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中最令人兴奋的新领域之一。与硅等更传统的替代品相比，这些器件由耦合到廉价半导体的光吸收分子组成，有望以低成本实现高效率。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，这种装置最终必须以固态材料的形式出现，以便在降低制造成本的同时提高装置本身的寿命。为了解决这一问题带来的许多挑战，该研究项目结合了拥有化学、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，其中数学建模将与用于离子传导的新型聚合物基板的合成和表征相结合，离子导电是固态光伏转换的关键方面。太阳能电池将在这些新材料的基础上制造出来，并通过各种方法进行检查，以表征它们的光电特性；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制造简易性。这些努力将导致一种新型光伏的开发，这种光伏将以低成本实现高效率，用于太阳能电力应用或创造合成太阳能燃料的设备。地球变暖？S气候极大地提高了人们对碳中性能源开发的兴趣。尽管可再生能源的所有选择--太阳能、风能、水能、地热、核能和生物质能--都可以成为整体能源战略的一部分，但太阳能是总发电量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，太阳能目前的价格大约是煤炭等化石燃料发电的十倍。随着太阳能生产变得更加普遍，从当前技术获得的太阳能成本的降低无疑将继续下去，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。这个项目是基于廉价材料的高效固态光伏电池的开发，是有望引领新太阳能技术的那种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.