Technology based on an innovative generation of hybrid photovoltaic cells is now one step closer to mass production, cheers to research led by Newcastle University.
An intercontinental team of researchers has found a new procedure based on coordination elements that would have the potential to advance the use of easily available low-cost materials having the capability to revolutionize the energy industry by substituting silicone-based solar panels.
The team, directed by Newcastle University and including teammates from Uppsala University in Sweden and the University of Naples Federico II in Italy, developed dynamic dimeric copper complexes employing tetradentate ligands and published their findings in the journal Chem. Such new copper structures can provide an innovative fusion of rapid charge transference in a previously unknown two-electron redox action that inhibits carrier reunification after dismutation.
The active dimer mechanism leads to a new age of methodical redox intercessors for molecular devices. It has the potential to help power solar devices through negligible voltage losses and relatively low recombination rates and reorganization energies.
Dr Marina Freitag of Newcastle University’s School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, who co-led the study, stated: “The significant proportion of progress in the direction of the goal of using minimal cost and readily available materials has come from the advancement of light-absorbing materials. Charge transfer issues continue to be a barrier to widespread adoption of this solar technology, and this is the problem that our research attempts to solve.”
Prof Ana Belén Muoz-Garcia of the University of Naples Federico II, who co-led the study, stated, “This work demonstrates that basic research incorporating experiments and models could provide a strong scientific platform to enhance interfaces and materials for sustainable energy technologies with solid social impact.”
Similarly, researchers have created a low-cost, off-grid modular energy source that utilizes radiative cooling to efficiently generate power for nighttime lights. Also, studies on the mechanism that can generate fuel from sunlight are on rise, Artificial photosynthesis is a hot topic of research that has sparked a slew of new ideas because mimicking the functioning of plants would not only provide us with an endless supply of energy, but it would also remove the extra CO2 that causes climate change from the environment.
