Design and Development of Efficient Solid-State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。染料敏化太阳能电池的发展代表了太阳能科学最令人兴奋的新领域之一。这些器件由与廉价半导体耦合的光吸收分子组成，相对于更传统的替代品（如硅），这些器件提供了低成本高效率的承诺。然而，染料敏化太阳能电池尚未实现其感知的潜力，部分原因是必须优化无数的化学和物理过程。此外，人们普遍认为，这种器件最终必须以固态材料的形式出现，以便提高器件本身的寿命，同时降低制造成本。为了解决这一问题所带来的诸多挑战，该研究项目结合了具有化学，材料科学和数学专业知识的科学家的努力，目标是开发高效的固态染料敏化太阳能电池。该计划基于协同合作，其中数学建模将与新型聚合物基离子传导基材的合成和表征相结合，这是固态光伏转换的一个关键方面。太阳能电池将基于这些新材料制造，并通过各种方法进行检查，以表征其光电特性;然后，这些信息将提供必要的反馈，以继续微调太阳能电池的性能和易于制造。这些努力将导致开发出一种新的光致发光材料，这种材料将以低成本实现高效率，用于太阳能发电应用或制造合成太阳能燃料的装置。中国的气候极大地提高了人们对开发碳中和能源的兴趣。虽然所有可再生能源的选择-太阳能、风能、水力、地热能、核能和生物量-都可以成为整体能源战略的一部分，但太阳能是总功率足以满足全球能源需求的唯一来源。太阳能的一个核心问题仍然是经济问题：例如，在电力生产领域，太阳能目前比煤炭等化石燃料能源的价格高出约10倍。毫无疑问，随着太阳能的生产变得更加普遍，利用现有技术获得的太阳能的成本将继续降低，但太阳能转换计划的真正重大突破将需要尚未发现的新科学。这个项目-开发一种基于廉价材料的高效率固态光伏电池-是有望导致新的太阳能技术的基础研究的一个例子。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).The development of dye-sensitized solar cells represents one of the most exciting new areas of solar energy science. Composed of light-absorbing molecules coupled to an inexpensive semiconductor, these devices offer the promise of high efficiency at low cost relative to more conventional alternatives such as silicon. However, dye-sensitized solar cells have yet to realize their perceived potential, due in part to the myriad of chemical and physical processes that must be optimized. In addition, it is widely viewed that such a device must ultimately come in the form of a solid-state material in order to enhance the longevity of the device itself while at the same time lowering the cost of manufacture. In order to address the many challenges this problem presents, this research project combines the efforts of scientists with expertise in chemistry, materials science, and mathematics, with the goal of developing efficient, solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells. The program is based on a synergistic collaboration in which mathematical modeling will be coupled with the synthesis and characterization of novel polymer-based substrates for ion conduction, a key aspect of photovoltaic conversion in the solid state. Solar cells will be created based on these new materials and examined by a variety of methods in order to characterize their optoelectric properties; this information will then provide the feedback necessary to continue fine-tuning the solar cell in terms of both its performance and ease of fabrication. These efforts will result in the development of a new class of photovoltaics that will achieve high efficiency at low cost for use in solar electricity applications or in the creation of devices for the synthesis of solar fuels.Warming of the Earth?s climate has dramatically heightened interest in the development of carbon-neutral sources of energy. Although all options for renewable energy -- solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, nuclear, and biomass -- can be part of an overall energy strategy, solar energy is the only source with total power sufficient to meet global energy needs. A central problem with solar energy remains one of economics: in the area of electricity production, for example, solar power is presently about ten times more expensive than power from fossil-fuel sources such as coal. Cost reductions in solar energy derived from current technologies will no doubt continue as their production becomes more widespread, but truly significant breakthroughs in solar energy conversion schemes will require new science that has yet to be discovered. This project -- the development of a high-efficiency, solid-state photovoltaic cells based on inexpensive materials -- is an example of the kind of basic research that promises to lead to new solar energy technologies.