Synergistic tailoring of flavins and quantum dots for solar cell applications

可再生能源的发展是一个紧迫的问题，而且规模如此之大，许多技术都将做出贡献。由于太阳能的丰富和电力作为能源的便捷性，太阳能光伏有望发挥重要作用，但目前它们只占世界能源供应的一小部分(例如在美国约为0.02%)。吸收非常有限的主要原因是，目前的太阳能电池比用化石燃料发电要昂贵得多。有机半导体有可能解决这个问题，因为它提供了一条成本低得多的太阳能电池的途径。有机半导体是圆周率共轭的分子和聚合物，可以通过旋涂、卷对卷处理、喷墨和丝网印刷等低成本/大容量沉积技术从溶液中加工。共轭聚合物是一类重要的有机半导体材料，可用于制造轻巧、轻便、时尚和极具市场前景的柔性薄膜器件。有机太阳能电池的一个关键障碍是其效率低(固态器件的效率为5%-7%)。该提案描述了一种三管齐下的方法，其中每一种方法都有可能提高太阳能电池的效率。该提案旨在建立马萨诸塞州大学V.Rotello教授、圣安德鲁斯大学I.D.W.Samuel教授和格拉斯哥大学G.Cooke博士之间的新合作。我们方案的协同作用为光伏发电效率的显著提高提供了潜力。这三种方法概括如下：1.基于黄素的新型电子受体将被生产出来，具有可定制的能级和光物理性质。新的量子点将被生产出来，与黄素衍生物的能级互补。我们将研究用这些系统制作的图案化异质结的光伏特性。部分将包括在黄素和纳米颗粒系统中，以促进自组装和增强电荷分离。原型光伏电池将从这些系统中制造出来。

The development of renewable energy sources is an urgent problem and so large that many technologies will contribute. Solar photovoltaics can be expected to play a major role because of the abundance of solar energy, and the convenience of electricity as an energy source, but at present they contribute only a tiny fraction of the world's energy supply (e.g. ca. ~0.02% in the US). The major reason for the very limited uptake is that current solar cells are much more expensive than generating power from fossil fuels. Organic semiconductors have the potential to solve this problem by providing a route to much lower cost solar cells. Organic semiconductors are pi-conjugated molecules and polymers, that can be processed from solution via low cost/high volume deposition techniques such as spin-coating, roll-to-roll processing and ink-jet and screen printing. Conjugated polymers are an important class of organic semiconductor that can be used to make flexible thin film devices that are lightweight, highly portable, extremely fashionable and exceptionally marketable.A key barrier to the take-up of organic solar cells is that their efficiency is low (5-7% for solid state devices). This proposal describes a three-pronged approach, whereby each of these approaches has the potential to improve solar cell efficiency. The proposal aims to establish a new collaboration between Prof V. Rotello (UMass), Prof I.D.W. Samuel (St Andrews) and Dr G. Cooke (Glasgow). The synergy of our programme provides the potential for dramatic improvement in photovoltaic efficiency. The three approaches are summarised below:1. New flavin based electron acceptors will be produced with tailored energy levels and photophysical properties.2. New quantum dots will be produced with complementary energy levels to the flavin derivatives. The photovoltaic properties of patterned heterojunctions fabricated from these systems will be investigated.3. Moieties will be included into flavin and nanoparticle systems to facilitate self-assembly and enhanced charge separation. Prototype photovoltaic cells will be fabricated from these systems.