SOLAR: Novel Nanomaterials and Mathematical Analysis for Ultra-High Efficiency Photovoltaic Systems: A New Paradigm in Solar Cells

太阳能：超高效光伏系统的新型纳米材料和数学分析：太阳能电池的新范例

• 批准号: 0934520
• 负责人: Lisa Pfefferle
• 金额: $ 171.64万
• 依托单位: Yale University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-08-01 至 2013-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0934520&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SOLAR; Novel; Nanomaterials; Mathematical; Analysis

TECHNICAL SUMMARY:Increasing solar cell efficiency and affordability are critical objectives for achieving energy sustainability. The use of semiconducting nanomaterials paired with organic semiconducting polymers offers promise here, with the possibility to realize cost effective high performance heterojunction devices. Current approaches however are limited by small exciton diffusion lengths and the sub-optimal transport characteristics of the percolated nanomaterial aggregates found in today?s state of the art devices. Overcoming these limitations can lead to significant breakthroughs in solar cell performance. This proposal aims to address the above mentioned limitations. The proposed work is a 3-year project that focuses on the synthesis of novel nanomaterials with long excitonic lifetimes such as GaN single walled nanotubes, and the use of well aligned self-assembled mesophases as templates for the directed assembly of these novel nanomaterials. Assembly of anisotropic nanomaterials in nm-spaced arrays will provide significantly increased photo-induced charge transfer by providing electron-hole dissociation surfaces of high, controllable periodicity, separated by length scales that are smaller than the exciton diffusion length itself. . Dissociation at these aligned surfaces provides direct electron conduction pathways to the external electrodes of the device. The organization of this high surface area for exciton dissociation will be accomplished using methods that are scalable and do not require advanced lithography. Harmonic analysis will be leveraged to considerably enhance both ab initio calculations of the electro-optical properties of novel nanomaterials and design of experiments in the multi-parameter space that correlates photo-voltaic performance with material composition and device assembly.NON TECHNICAL SUMMARY:The proposed work will provide the design basis for clean and sustainable energy generation. Successfully executed, it will result in new materials and processes enabling higher efficiency and more cost-effective solar cells. This project has a broad technical impact as the materials and methods developed during the course of the basic research can be applied in other areas such as thermoelectric energy harvesting, light emitting diodes, photodetectors and advanced chemical separations. A number of educational and outreach activities have been integrated into the proposed work. These include a research seminar program run in partnership with three undergraduate focused institutions, recruitment of students, especially from underrepresented groups, for summer research projects and the creation of a new module on experimental design for the introductory undergraduate Chemical Engineering course at Yale University. The impacts of the proposed research overall are: (1) Development of new science that will drive transformative advances in solar technology (2) Development of materials and methods with a broad range of technological relevance beyond photovoltaics (3) Highly interdisciplinary training of graduate students and researchers cutting across chemistry, materials science and mathematics (4) Involvement and mentoring of undergraduate students in research (5) Recruitment of underrepresented groups to science.

技术摘要：提高太阳能电池效率和可承受性是实现能源可持续性的关键目标。半导体纳米材料与有机半导体聚合物的结合使用提供了希望，有可能实现具有成本效益的高性能异质结器件。然而，当前的方法受到小激子扩散长度和当今最先进设备中渗透纳米材料聚集体的次优传输特性的限制。克服这些限制可以导致太阳能电池性能的重大突破。该提案旨在解决上述限制。拟议的工作是一个为期3年的项目，重点是合成具有长激子寿命的新型纳米材料，例如GaN单壁纳米管，以及使用良好排列的自组装中间相作为这些新型纳米材料的定向组装的模板。纳米间隔阵列中各向异性纳米材料的组装将通过提供高可控周期性的电子空穴离解表面（由小于激子扩散长度本身的长度尺度分隔）来显着增加光致电荷转移。 。这些对齐表面处的解离提供了到器件外部电极的直接电子传导路径。 这种用于激子解离的高表面积的组织将使用可扩展且不需要先进光刻的方法来完成。将利用谐波分析来显着增强新型纳米材料电光特性的从头计算以及将光伏性能与材料成分和器件组装相关联的多参数空间中的实验设计。非技术摘要：拟议的这项工作将为清洁和可持续能源发电提供设计基础。如果成功执行，它将产生新的材料和工艺，从而实现更高效率和更具成本效益的太阳能电池。该项目具有广泛的技术影响，因为在基础研究过程中开发的材料和方法可以应用于其他领域，如热电能量收集、发光二极管、光电探测器和先进的化学分离。许多教育和外展活动已纳入拟议的工作中。其中包括与三个本科重点机构合作开展的研究研讨会计划、招募学生（尤其是来自代表性不足的群体）进行夏季研究项目，以及为耶鲁大学本科化学工程入门课程创建一个新的实验设计模块。拟议研究的总体影响是：（1）新科学的发展将推动太阳能技术的变革性进步（2）开发具有光伏以外广泛技术相关性的材料和方法（3）对研究生进行高度跨学科的培训化学、材料科学和数学领域的研究人员 (4) 本科生参与和指导研究 (5) 招募代表性不足的群体进入科学领域。