Synergistic tailoring of flavins and quantum dots for solar cell applications

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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.