Electrospray Materials Synthesis for Solar Energy Harvesting and Energy Storage

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The search for new nanomaterials with the right physical and chemical properties for power and energy applications is very intense and is likely to play an ever increasing role as discovering alternatives to fossil fuels becomes ever more urgent. Much less effort is being put in the pursuit of manufacturing of these newly discovered materials. This grant provides funding to fill this niche and investigate a novel approach to the manufacturing of thin films of nanomaterials for energy storage and harvesting applications. The approach is based on the electrospray?a device that has unique capabilities to produce nanoparticles of uniform size and deposit them with control over size, shape, structure and composition. Using clean-room microfabrication techniques for the construction of multiple spray nozzles, one can operate several sprays in parallel for increased deposition rates, to match the needs of practical applications. Specific aims of the proposed research include: deposition of nanomaterials with controlled structure, assembling and testing semiconductor thin films in functional devices and scale-up for inexpensive manufacturing in industrial applications. Applications considered are cells for solar energy harvesting and Si/C electrodes in lithium-ion batteries for energy storage. The adoption of an inexpensive electrospray ?printing? capability will result in substantial cost reduction in the fabrication and installation of solar cells. In the case of lithium-ion batteries, nanostructured electrodes using synthesized Si/C nanoparticles will lead to increased energy density and, in turn, to greater range for battery use in the transportation sector. Si/C nanoparticles are chosen since they can accommodate large volume changes occurring during charge and discharge cycles of the battery. Importantly, the proposed electrospray manufacturing approach can be extended to other materials, including biomaterials, which will impact broadly the rapidly evolving field of nanomanufacturing.