SOLAR: Ultrabroad spectral bandwidth excitonic thin film solar cells based on carbon nanotubes

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

This award on solar energy research is co-funded by the Divisions of Chemistry, Materials Research, and Mathematical Sciences of the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences. A collaboration of chemistry, materials science, mathematics, physics, and engineering groups at the University of Michigan and the University of Southern California will develop a unique, new, thin film solar cell based on polymer-wrapped carbon nanotubes (CNTs). These films will be used in donor-acceptor heterojunctions employing a range of new organic materials and device structures, including polymers and small molecules. The use of CNTs extends the optical sensitivity from the blue into the near infrared, allowing organic-based devices to approach nearly thermodynamically-limited power conversion efficiencies. Simulated excited state (exciton) flow and charge transport through the CNT network uses new treecode algorithms and semi-classical hydrodynamical models. Efficient, multi-dimensional optimization methods are used to develop novel aperiodic dielectric stacks that couple the broad solar spectrum into very thin films used as the active device region in solar cells. A diverse range of undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are engaged in this interdisciplinary research in renewable energy. These students are provided with opportunities to influence policy decisions regarding energy choices through coursework in energy policy and geopolitics on their respective university campuses. The group is also involved in the University of Michigan's Saturday Morning Physics lecture series, providing the public with insights into the latest science and technologies.