Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

Finding ways to effect the efficient conversion of solar to electrical energy is crucial to society's future well-being. Photovoltaic solar cells do make this energy conversion, but the present ones based on inorganic semiconductor materials are too expensive for widespread use and often contain environmentally sensitive elements. On the other hand the present organic dye-sensitized solar cells are cheaper to make and present no significant environmental hazard, but are relatively inefficient and have a short working lifespan. The applicants wish to make use of their recent discoveries in the area of non-coherent photon upconversion to improve both the efficiency and longevity of organic photovoltaic solar cells. Efficiency will be improved by employing photon upconversion in the near infrared portion of the solar spectrum - a process that pools most of the energy of two photons to effect a high-energy electron transfer process. Longevity will be improved by using materials such as fullerenes that are much more photostable than the organic dyes presently employed. The applicants have discovered the true mechanism of non-coherent photon upconversion and now wish to make use of this information to design, construct and test organic solar photovoltaic cells based on this process. The equipment requested will enable them to follow the rates of production and consumption of key intermediate species in the photon upconversion process using transient absorption and delayed fluorescence techniques. This information is essential if the above improvements are to be achieved (by the applicants).