Well defined graphene nanoribbons as active components for solar cells

该研究项目的长期目标是开发用于聚合物基体异质结太阳能电池(BHJSCs)的新型n型碳纳米材料，以取代目前用于最先进太阳能电池的PCBM。凭借更高效的n型材料，BHJSCs将成为传统硅太阳能电池的一种可行的替代方案，用于各种类型的应用。本方案提出的策略是基于石墨烯纳米带(GNR)和半导体单壁碳纳米管(S-SWNTs)制备纳米复合材料。我们的团队选择了GNR/S-SWNT纳米复合材料来取代用于BHJSC的著名的n型材料PCBM，以克服其与光伏器件相关的主要缺点，如辐照稳定性差、电荷传输性能差和对阳光的吸收能力差。我们提出，将具有公认的、优异的电子性能和高纵横比的碳纳米材料，如GNRs和S-SWNTs相结合，将带来更好的器件效率，从而使这种类型的器件更接近商业化。本项目正好属于先进制造-量子材料：将石墨烯或类石墨烯材料集成到器件中。事实上，本项目的三个主要部分是：1)通过一种新的方法合成和表征可溶液处理的石墨烯纳米带(GNRs)；2)制备GNRS/S-SWNT纳米复合材料；以及3)以GNR/S-SWNT纳米复合材料为n型材料制备聚合物基BHJSCs。该项目将由四名合作伙伴、两名学者(JF Morin和M Leclerc)和两家工业公司(Raymor Industries Inc.和Brilliant Matters)进行，他们将密切合作，以实现目标，并确保我们的工业合作伙伴能够实施在该项目中开发的新材料的准备工作，最终制造出可商业化的产品。我们将开发的技术不仅会让太阳能电池和半导体聚合物生产商感兴趣，也会让任何涉及电子领域的公司感兴趣，从而使我们的技术对大量最终用户有用。

The long-term objective of this research project is to develop new n-type carbon nanomaterials for polymer-based bulk heterojunction solar cells (BHJSCs) to replace the PCBM, which is currently use in state-of-the-art solar cells. With more efficient n-type materials, BHJSCs will become a viable alternative to traditional silicon solar cells for various types of applications.The strategy presented in this proposal is based on the preparation of nanocomposites from graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) and semiconducting single-wall carbon nanotubes (s-SWNTs). GNR/s-SWNT nanocomposites have been chosen by our team to replace PCBM, a well-known n-type material used in BHJSCs, in order to overcome its major drawbacks related to photovoltaic devices such as low stability upon irradiation, poor charge transport properties and poor sunlight absorption. We propose that a combination of carbon nanomaterials such as GNRs and s-SWNTs with proven, excellent electronic properties and high aspect ratio will lead to better device efficiency, thus bringing this type of device closer to commercialization.This project falls right into Advanced Manufacturing - Quantum Materials: Integration of graphene or graphene-like materials into devices. In fact, the three major parts of this project are: 1) Synthesis and characterization of solution-processable graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) through a newly developed method ; 2) Preparation of GNRs/s-SWNT nanocomposites and 3) Fabrication of polymer-based BHJSCs using GNR/s-SWNT nanocomposites as n-type materials. This project will be conducted by four partners, two academics (JF Morin and M Leclerc) and two industrials (Raymor Industries Inc. and Brilliant Matters), that will work in close collaboration to meet the objectives and to make sure that the preparation of the new materials developed in this project could be implemented by our industrial partners to eventually make commercializable products out of them. The technology that we will develop will not only be of interest for solar cells and semiconducting polymers producers, but also to any companies involved in the electronics area, thus making our technology useful to plenty of end-users.