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  • From: bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Homestead] Cheap plastic solar cells ?
  • Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:28:03 -0800 (PST)

I can't tell from the article just how promising this is...............

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Cheaper Plastic Solar Cells In the Works

livescience.com – Sat Dec 13, 9:09 am ET


Sunlight, or solar radiation, is a remarkable phenomenon. It is the energy
source in photosynthesis, makes us warm on summer days, and if future solar
cells can be made more efficient and less costly, it may be our best source
for reliable, clean and renewable energy.

As a postdoctoral researcher in the South Dakota State University (SDSU)
Department of Electrical Engineering, I am working with my advisor Qiquan
Qiao, an assistant professor in the department's Center for Advanced
Photovoltaics, and Seth Darling, an assistant scientist at the Department of
Energy's Argonne National Laboratory Center for Nanoscale Materials, to
design, synthesize and eventually fabricate a more efficient and less costly
solar cell.

We are trying to develop a cell that addresses the main challenge facing
solar energy devices: absorb more of the sun's energy for electricity
production.

Plastic cells

Unlike the vast majority of today's solar cells, which are expensive because
they are made from silicon-based, or inorganic, semiconductors, the solar
cell we are creating will be less costly as it will be made from organic, or
carbon-based, semiconductors made from polymers. We will use two different
types of polymers: one which is electron-deficient, an organoborane polymer,
and one which is electron-rich, a thiophene polymer.

Since my skills are focused on creating organoborane molecules, which are
made from carbon, boron and hydrogen, I rely heavily on Qiao, who is an
expert in the physics of solar cells, and Darling, who is an expert in
self-assembly and chemical computation. As we each have expertise in
specialized areas of science, putting our ideas together to make this project
work is really a great interdisciplinary research collaboration!

The organoborane and thiophene polymers are chain-like molecules made from
carbon, boron, sulfur and hydrogen. These polymers have alternating double
bonds and are flat, characteristics necessary for electrons to travel through
the backbones of the polymers and produce electricity.

When we connect the organoborane and thiophene polymers, each with opposing
electronic properties, we will create a "molecular p-n junction," key to
collecting and using electrons for electricity.

By synthesizing the p-n junction within the polymer molecules, we hope to
overcome many of the limitations of current organic solar cells.

Additionally, we will incorporate molecules known to absorb different
wavelengths of light into the polymer chains. By doing this, we hope that
these polymers will be able to absorb nearly the entire spectrum of visible
light, which has wavelengths ranging from approximately 400 nanometers
(violet light) to 750 nanometers (red light), thereby harnessing much more of
our sun's energy.

Self-assembling arrays

One reason my collaborators and I chose to research these polymers is because
they may be capable of self-assembling in just a few seconds to form very
tiny, ordered arrays of materials. The arrays will allow the electrons to
more easily find their path out of the ordered blocks to produce electricity.

The proposed solar cell would consist of approximately 1015, or one
quadrillion, polymer molecules enclosed in an area of just one square
centimeter.

The immediate goal for our research project is to develop a greater
understanding of this class of materials, knowledge that will be used down
the line to develop and fabricate our proposed solar cell.

Printing cells

To identify which polymer structures best fit our requirements, I have been
using a commercial computational chemistry software program that will give me
direction for the biggest challenge of this project, which will be making and
characterizing these polymers.

These solar cells may be inexpensive to produce because the organic polymers
can be created using low-cost techniques like reel-to-reel processing,
similar to the method behind newspaper printing, which results in a material
that is lightweight and mechanically flexible.

In September 2008, I was awarded an inaugural National Science Foundation
American Competitiveness in Chemistry Fellowship, a two-year grant that is
giving me an opportunity to both contribute to U.S. competitiveness and to
involve students from traditionally underrepresented groups in this important
area of science. I plan to develop a solar cell laboratory for the Chicago
Science Alliance, which supports science teachers in the Chicago Public
Schools, and to work with my advisor to develop hands-on activities
describing solar cell materials for inclusion in a mobile science laboratory.
The lab would travel across South Dakota to reach small rural schools as well
as schools on Native American reservations.

Video - Major Discovery: Solar Revolution?
What Ever Happened to Solar Power?
You and the Sun: 10 Burning Questions

Editor's Note: This research was supported by the National Science Foundation
(NSF), the federal agency charged with funding basic research and education
across all fields of science and engineering. See the Behind the Scenes
Archive.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20081213/sc_livescience/cheaperplasticsolarcellsintheworks







  • [Homestead] Cheap plastic solar cells ?, bob ford, 12/13/2008

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