Grant: Strategic Projects - Group

Inexpensive new sources of renewable energy are urgently needed to help replace our current reliance on fossil fuels. Without these new sources, major damage to the environment is likely, and present levels of prosperity cannot be sustained. Energy provided directly by the sun is an attractive alternative. Current solar cells based on silicon are effective but expensive. In addition, recovering the energetic costs of manufacturing such cells requires years of operation, even in the best cases. Society needs new types of solar cells that are efficient, long-lived, cheap, and easy to make on a large scale, using methods that allow the energetic costs of manufacturing to be paid back quickly. An appealing approach is to build them from thin films of molecular components deposited on surfaces by simple techniques such as inkjet printing. The active molecular layer can absorb light and yield excited states that transfer electrons to suitable acceptors. Holes and electrons then migrate in opposite directions until they reach electrodes in contact with the active layer. Unfortunately, the efficiency of the best cells of this type remains well below 10%, even after intensive research. Improved performance requires a much deeper understanding of how molecular organization in the active layer can be optimized so that holes and electrons can be produced, separated, and conducted to the electrodes with high efficiency. Our goal is to develop this understanding by a systematic program of research and development, carried out by a team of academic experts and industrial partners, who bring together complementary skills in molecular design and synthesis, supramolecular chemistry, the characterization of materials, high-level computation, and the fabrication and testing of thin-film devices.