Germanium nanomaterials/polymer hybrid for solar cells

Due to the limited sources of fossil fuel and growing demand of world-wide energy, research on inexpensive alternative energy sources has significantly increased past few years. While the conventional silicon solar cells are expensive, they are also unable to provide enough energy density for current and future societal needs. Semiconductor polymers are excellent candidates as active materials in photovoltaic devices because they are solution processable and possess tunable properties. It is possible to use them for industrial roll-to-roll processing using techniques as well as screen printing, doctor blading, ink-jet printing, and spray deposition. Currently in organic/polymer solar cells are only achieving up to 13% power conversion efficiency. This metric must be improved if these devices are to become commercially relavent. A promising approach is to incorporate inorganic semiconductor nanomaterials into the polymers to further enhance their optical and electrical properties, ultimately leading to improved power conversion efficiencies. The research described in the present application focuses on synthesizing germanium quantum dots, preparing hybrids with organic semiconductor polymers and evaluating the performance of the resulting hybrid in proto-type solar cells.

Faculty Supervisor:

Jonathan Veinot

Student:

Partner:

Technical University of Munich

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Nanotechnology; Green/Alternative Energy; Clean Technology; Quantum Science

University:

University of Alberta

Program: