Efficient and low-cost light-emitting electrochemical cells of graphene quantum dots

加拿大目前在电力上花费350亿美元。照明部门的电能消耗约为20%。照明是节约能源和减少温室气体排放的理想场所。发光电化学电池（LECs）是最简单的照明装置之一。它们由非常薄的发光材料层夹在两个电触点上，在连接电时发出白光，作为我们用于照明的荧光灯管。LECs消耗的电能少得多，发出的光比我们的灯泡强得多。另一方面，地球上的碳是丰富的。石墨烯是由碳原子粘合而成的扁平薄片，或者说是一堆碳原子，而石墨烯量子点（GQDs）是这些薄片的碎片，小至几纳米（nm， 10亿分之一米）。gqd是发光的，可用于上述LECs。**该提案解决了我们使用低成本gqd制造LECs的策略。我们将在工业标准印刷电路板（pcb）或柔性pcb上开发这种LECs，这些pcb易于用于照明，并且具有较长的耐用性。本项目将我们正在申请专利的一锅电化学制备发光量子点的技术扩展到性能最好、成本最低的技术。预计太阳能电池的能源效率将超过10%。该战略项目将在三年内交付10厘米× 10厘米GQD LEC器件的LEC原型。该战略项目将给加拿大带来以下好处：(a)创造财富，包括生产照明产品的新企业；这些新创企业价值链中的新业务；新的和有吸引力的就业机会；(b)健康和环境效益包括与提案中解释的绿色制造考虑相关的效益，以及引入绿色制造以减少能源消耗、未来100年的全球变暖潜势（GWP100）和其他环境负荷。****

Canada currently spends $35 billion for electricity. The consumption of electrical energy in the lighting sector is ca. 20%. Lighting represents the ideal playing field for saving energy and reducing greenhouse gases. Light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) are one of the simplest kinds of lighting devices. They consist of very thin layer of light emitting materials sandwiched by two electricity contacts and emit white light as our fluorescent tubes used for lighting upon connection of electricity. LECs consume much less power and emit light stronger than our lighting bulbs. On the other hand, carbon is rich on the earth. Graphene is a flat sheet of bonded carbon atoms or a stack of these sheets, while grapheme quantum dots (GQDs) are pieces of these sheets as small as several nanometers (nm, 1 billionth meter). GQDs are luminescent and can be used in the above LECs. ** This proposal addresses our strategies of making LECs, using low cost GQDs. We will develop this kind of LECs on industry standard printed circuit boards (PCBs) or flexible PCBs, which are easy to use for lighting, and have a long durability. This project extends our patent-pending technology of one-pot electrochemical preparation of luminescent GQDs to the best performance and lowest cost ones. The LECs are expected to generate greater than 10% energy efficiency. Within three years, the strategic project will deliver prototypes of LECs in 10 cm x 10 cm pieces of GQD LEC devices. The strategic project will lead to the following benefits to Canada: (a) Wealth creation including new start-ups to produce the lighting products; new business in the value chain of these new start-ups; new and attractive employment opportunities; and (b) The health and environmental benefits include those associated with the green manufacturing considerations explained in the proposal, and with the introduction of green fabrication to reduce energy consumption, global warming potential in the next 100 years (GWP100), and other environmental loads.****