SOLAR Collaborative: Photonic Enhancement of Organic Photovoltaics to Enable Higher Efficiencies and Novel Mechanisms

这个合作项目汇集了丹佛大学和科罗拉多大学博尔德分校的教职员工和科学家，研究有机光伏(OPV)的新材料和新概念。它结合了新的数学方法来描述光子过程，具有新的等离子体纳米结构来增强光吸收，以及新的有机半导体来控制激子流动和电荷载流子动力学。探讨了表面等离子体中线性和非线性过程及其与有机生色团相互作用的理论基础，并研究了表面等离子体与Förster共振能量转移(FRET)的相互作用。合成了新的有机分子，它结合了石墨烯和其他具有特殊电荷传输和激发态性质的部分，以及改善分子有序性的液晶功能。总体目标是提高OPV器件中产生的激子密度，以实现更高的效率以及对激发态动力学和多激子现象的相干控制。这项工作需要与国家可再生能源实验室和多伦多大学进行大量合作。该项目旨在促进OPV材料和机制的基础知识，并推动OPV作为一种可以真正大规模生产的低成本太阳能技术推向更广泛的市场。该项目的跨学科性质使研究生和博士后实习生接触到各种研究环境，并促进他们的学习和职业发展。该项目编制的教育材料通过网站和国家科学、技术、工程和数学教育数字图书馆(NSDL)广泛传播。丹佛和博尔德地区为当地高中理科教师举办的外联活动使他们能够亲身体验关于太阳能和纳米技术的密集讲习班。演示、展品和教学材料被提供给科罗拉多州的机构，如落基山脉上空的翅膀航空航天博物馆和梅米·道德·艾森豪威尔图书馆。

This collaborative project brings together faculty and scientists at the University of Denver and the University of Colorado at Boulder to study new materials and concepts in organic photovoltaics (OPV). It combines new mathematical methods to describe photonic processes with novel plasmonic nanostructures for enhancing optical absorption and new organic semiconductors for control of exciton flow and charge carrier dynamics. The theoretical foundations of linear and nonlinear processes in surface plasmons and their interactions with organic chromophores are explored, and the interplay between surface plasmons and Förster Resonant Energy Transfer (FRET) is investigated. New organic molecules are synthesized that incorporate graphenic and other moieties with exceptional charge transport and excited-state properties along with liquid-crystalline functionality for improved molecular ordering. The overall goal is to enhance the density of excitons created in OPV devices to enable higher efficiencies as well as coherent control of excited state dynamics and multiexciton phenomena. The work entails significant collaborations with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the University of Toronto.This project aims to advance the fundamental knowledge of OPV materials and mechanisms and to provide impetus for moving OPV to the broader market as a low-cost solar energy technology that can be produced on a truly large scale. The interdisciplinary nature of the project gives graduate students and postdoctoral trainees exposure to a variety of research settings and fosters their learning and career growth. The project generates educational materials that are broadly disseminated through websites and through the National Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education Digital Library (NSDL). Outreach activities for local high school science teachers in the Denver and Boulder areas enable hands-on experience with intensive workshops on solar energy and nanotechnology. Demonstrations, exhibits, and instructional materials are provided to Colorado institutions such as the Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum and the Mamie Dowd Eisenhower Library.