Linkping University: How non-toxic and efficient solar cells can be produced [View all]

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https://liu.se/en/news-item/sa-kan-giftfria-och-effektiva-solceller-tillverkas

How non-toxic and efficient solar cells can be produced

04 December 2024

Anders Törneholm
Large-scale production of organic solar cells with high efficiency and minimal environmental impact. This can now be made possible through a new design principle developed at Linköping University. In the study, published in the journal Nature Energy, the researchers have studied molecule shape and interaction in organic solar cells.

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Sustainable mass production

The efficiency of organic solar cells is catching up with traditional solar cells and they can convert about 20 percent of the sun’s rays into electricity. The high efficiency is the result of several years of intensive materials research and studies of the interaction between the molecules in the material, the so-called morphology.

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Morphology and performance

What the Linköping researchers have done is map the molecular interaction between the materials transporting the electrons and the solvent itself by using a series of advanced synchrotron X-ray and neutron techniques. Thanks to this, the researchers were then able to develop a design principle that works for many different harmless solvents. In the long run, they hope that even water can act as a solvent.

According to the researchers, understanding the link between morphology and performance in organic solar cells is a major challenge, as they need to investigate the ultra-fast movement of electrons (the charge transport) from the material that releases electrons to the receiving material. Those processes occur within nanoscale structures and at molecular interfaces. According to Feng Gao, the road to environmentally sustainable organic solar cells is now open.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41560-024-01678-5