Phthalocyanines and analogs for sustainable energy devices.

我在多伦多大学化学工程与应用化学系领导一个多学科研究项目。我的项目的重点是分子设计，纳米工程和独特的有机材料集成到可持续能源设备。目标应用是有机太阳能电池。有机太阳能电池是一种基于有机材料的能量产生装置，可以通过零碳足迹的过程将阳光转化为电流。今后，我们将继续以几种方式扩大这一调查途径。***感兴趣的一类特殊材料是酞菁及其类似物。酞菁是一种已知的染料和颜料，作为功能性有机电子材料不断出现。我们将继续探索环收缩类似于酞菁的硼亚酞菁（BsubPcs），以利用它们的特性，包括：强光吸收，能够捕获~39%的阳光；高电荷导电性和多功能性；以及促进单线态裂变过程的能力，单线态裂变使从太阳吸收的每一个光子产生两个电子/电荷。***我们最近展示了我们基于BsubPc的有机太阳能电池在多伦多市中心的外部环境中非常稳定。我们将继续在这种环境下评估所有新材料，无论是单独的还是与bsubpc配对的，以了解分子结构与环境稳定性之间的关系。***我们的初步结果表明，在有机太阳能电池中，另一种环收缩的酞菁类似物被称为四苯二唑（Tbc）也具有类似的期望性质和功能。这包括捕获剩余约61%的阳光的能力，通过我们所谓的“互补吸收工程”（CAE），有可能产生“黑色”太阳能电池。我们建议扩大环收缩类似物的研究，这些类似物可以与bsubpc配对，并能够从太阳光谱中吸收高能蓝色和低能量红色/近红外光子，目标是生产“黑色”太阳能电池。***我们还将研究有机太阳能电池的制造技术，将真空沉积法用于将BsubPcs整合到有机太阳能电池中，并将成对材料的溶液印刷结合起来。这将使我们能够在确定高度稳定的材料（如BsubPcs）后考虑最佳的器件制造方法；而不是围绕特定的制造方法设计材料。我们还将把我们的项目扩展到红外传感器和有机电池。有机电池是一种可持续的能量存储设备，碳足迹最小，完全没有锂离子电池的易燃性危险。

I lead a multidisciplinary research program in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry at the University of Toronto. The focus of my program is the molecular design, nano-engineering and integration of unique organic materials into sustainable energy devices. The target application has been organic solar cells. Organic solar cells are energy generation devices based on organic materials that facilitate the conversion of sunlight into electrical current through a process with zero carbon footprint. Moving forward we will continue to expand this investigative path in several ways. *** A specific class of materials of interest are phthalocyanines and their analogs. Phthalocyanines are known dyes and pigments that have continually emerged as functional organic electronic materials. We will continue to explore boron subphthalocyanines (BsubPcs) which are ring contracted analogs to phthalocyanines to exploit their properties which include: strong light absorption that enables the capture of ~39% of sunlight; high charge conductivity and multifunctionality; and the ability to facilitate the process of singlet fission, a process that enables the generation of two electrons/electrical charges per photon of light absorbed from the sun.*** We have recently shown our BsubPc based organic solar cells are very stable in the outside ambient environment of downtown Toronto. We will continue to assess all new materials, on their own and paired with BsubPcs, in this environment to understand the relationship between molecular structure and environmental stability.*** We have preliminary results that show an additional ring contracted phthalocyanine analogs known as tetrabenzocorrole (Tbc) also have similar desired properties and functionality within organic solar cells. This includes the ability to capture the remaining ~61% of sunlight, potentially yielding a ‘black' solar cell through what we call ‘complimentary absorption engineering' (CAE). We propose to expand the investigation of ring contracted analogs that can be paired with BsubPcs and enable the absorption of high energy blue and lower energy red/near infrared photons from the sun spectrum with the goal of producing a ‘black' solar cell.*** We will also investigate organic solar cell manufacturing techniques by combining the vacuum deposition method used for incorporating BsubPcs into organic solar cells and the solution printing of paired materials. This will enable us to consider an optimal device manufacturing method after identifying highly stable materials such as BsubPcs; in contrast to designing materials around targeting particular manufacturing methodologies.*** We will also expand our program into infrared sensors and organic batteries. Organic batteries are sustainable energy storage devices with minimal carbon footprint and complete lack of flammability hazard associated with lithium ion batteries.