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      Increased upconversion performance for thin film solar cells: a trimolecular composition

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          Abstract

          A dual-emitter upconvertor is applied to thin-film solar cells for the first time, generating record figures of merit.

          Abstract

          Photochemical upconversion based on triplet–triplet annihilation (TTA-UC) is employed to enhance the short-circuit currents generated by two varieties of thin-film solar cells, a hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cell and a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC). TTA-UC is exploited to harvest transmitted sub-bandgap photons, combine their energies and re-radiate upconverted photons back towards the solar cells. In the present study we employ a dual-emitter TTA-UC system which allows for significantly improved UC quantum yields as compared to the previously used single-emitter TTA systems. In doing so we achieve record photo-current enhancement values for both the a-Si:H device and the DSC, surpassing 10 –3 mA cm –2 sun –2 for the first time for a TTA-UC system and marking a record for upconversion-enhanced solar cells in general. We discuss pertinent challenges of the TTA-UC technology which need to be addressed in order to achieve its viable device application.

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          Recent advances in the chemistry of lanthanide-doped upconversion nanocrystals.

          Feng Wang, Xiaogang Liu (2009)
          Lanthanide ions exhibit unique luminescent properties, including the ability to convert near infrared long-wavelength excitation radiation into shorter visible wavelengths through a process known as photon upconversion. In recent years lanthanide-doped upconversion nanocrystals have been developed as a new class of luminescent optical labels that have become promising alternatives to organic fluorophores and quantum dots for applications in biological assays and medical imaging. These techniques offer low autofluorescence background, large anti-Stokes shifts, sharp emission bandwidths, high resistance to photobleaching, and high penetration depth and temporal resolution. Such techniques also show potential for improving the selectivity and sensitivity of conventional methods. They also pave the way for high throughput screening and miniaturization. This tutorial review focuses on the recent development of various synthetic approaches and possibilities for chemical tuning of upconversion properties, as well as giving an overview of biological applications of these luminescent nanocrystals.
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            Surface plasmonic effects of metallic nanoparticles on the performance of polymer bulk heterojunction solar cells.

            Jyh-Lih Wu, Fang-Chung Chen, Yu-Sheng Hsiao … (2011)
            We have systematically explored how plasmonic effects influence the characteristics of polymer photovoltaic devices (OPVs) incorporating a blend of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and [6,6]-phenyl-C(61)-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). We blended gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) into the anodic buffer layer to trigger localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), which enhanced the performance of the OPVs without dramatically sacrificing their electrical properties. Steady state photoluminescence (PL) measurements revealed a significant increase in fluorescence intensity, which we attribute to the increased light absorption in P3HT induced by the LSPR. As a result, the rate of generation of excitons was enhanced significantly. Furthermore, dynamic PL measurements revealed that the LSPR notably reduced the lifetime of photogenerated excitons in the active blend, suggesting that interplay between the surface plasmons and excitons facilitated the charge transfer process. This phenomenon reduced the recombination level of geminate excitons and, thereby, increased the probability of exciton dissociation. Accordingly, both the photocurrents and fill factors of the OPV devices were enhanced significantly. The primary origin of this improved performance was local enhancement of the electromagnetic field surrounding the Au NPs. The power conversion efficiency of the OPV device incorporating the Au NPs improved to 4.24% from a value of 3.57% for the device fabricated without Au NPs.
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              Low power, non-coherent sensitized photon up-conversion: modelling and perspectives.

              Angelo Monguzzi, Riccardo Tubino, Sajjad Hoseinkhani … (2012)
              In the last few years, non-coherent sensitized photon up-conversion (SUC) in multi-component systems has been developed to achieve significantly high quantum yields for various chromophore combinations at low excitation powers, spanning from the ultraviolet (UV) to near infrared (NIR) spectrum. This promising photon energy management technique became indeed suitable for wide applications in lighting technology and especially in photovoltaics, being able to recover the sub-bandgap photons lost by current devices. A full and general description of the SUC photophysics will be presented, with the analysis of the parameter affecting the photon conversion quantum yield and the quantities which define the optimal working range of any SUC system, namely the threshold and saturation excitation intensity. It will be shown how these quantities depend on intrinsic photophysical properties of the moieties involved and on the SUC solid host matrix. The model proposed represents a powerful tool for evaluation of a newly proposed system, and its reliability will be discussed in respect to an optimized system with SUC yield of 0.26 ± 0.02. The results obtained will outline the research guidelines which must be pursued to optimize the SUC efficiency for its perspective technological applications.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Journal ID (nlm-ta): Chem Sci
                Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Chem Sci
                Title: Chemical Science
                Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
                ISSN (Print): 2041-6520
                ISSN (Electronic): 2041-6539
                Publication date (Print): 1 January 2016
                Publication date (Electronic): 9 October 2015
                Volume: 7
                Issue: 1
                Pages: 559-568
                Affiliations
                [a ] School of Chemistry , UNSW , Sydney , NSW 2052 , Australia . Email: timothy.schmidt@ 123456unsw.edu.au ; Tel: +61 439 386 109
                [b ] ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES) , Intelligent Polymer Research Institute (IPRI) , The University of Wollongong , North Wollongong , NSW 2522 , Australia
                [c ] Institute for Silicon Photovoltaics , Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin , D-12489 , Germany
                [d ] School of Chemistry , The University of Sydney , NSW 2006 , Australia
                Author notes

                †Contributed equally to this work.

                Author information
                http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1311-8951
                http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0381-7273
                http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6691-1438
                Article
                Publisher ID: c5sc03215f
                DOI: 10.1039/c5sc03215f
                PMC ID: 5519954
                PubMed ID: 28791105
                SO-VID: aa88754b-f82f-4720-9de8-ab47ec4ca96a
                Copyright © This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2015
                License:

                This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                Date received : 28 August 2015
                Date accepted : 9 October 2015
                Categories
                Subject: Chemistry

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