Prof. Arijit Bose
University of Rhode Island-Chemical Eng.
Crawford Hall
Kingston, RI  02881
(401) 874-2804
bosea@egr.uri.edu
PI

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Air

The primary emphasis of this research is to develop low-cost, high efficiency solar cells for use in transportation applications, with a focus on sustainability. We will harness an entirely new low-temperature molecular surfactant-template-based synthesis technique to

1. scaleably assemble thin films of nanowire networks comprised of heterostructures TiO₂ and PbSe in core-shell configurations
2. measure the photo-stimulated charge carrier dynamics and photovoltaic responses in the networks
3. correlate the photoelectric properties to, and optimize, the network configuration, interface structure and chemistry determined by a variety of surface/interface analyses and microscopy techniques

In particular, we will exploit a novel synthesis approach that utilizes bicontinuous microemulsions with spatially immobilized nanoscale channels of water and an organic phase to assemble two and three dimensional networks of one-dimensional assemblies (nanowires, chains of nanoparticles) of TiO₂ and PbSe with control over the size, composition, surface/interface chemistry and network connectivity. We anticipate our work will enable the low-cost fabrication of a completely new type of high efficiency photovoltaic device networks where quantum dots replace dyes used in organic-inorganic hybrid cells. Unique aspects of our approach over dye-based Graetzel cells are:

1. obviation of photobleaching and the thermal stability issue associated with the dye
2. increased interface area providing high charge carrier populations
3. increased efficiency by the ability to harvest a wider range of photon energies through PbSe feature size and shape control and exploiting multiexciton generation
4. dramatically lower manufacturing costs due to the adaptability of the low-temperature molecular surfactant-templated technique to thin film fabrication via vacuum-free processing

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12/30/2008

$67,761.71

Two graduate students

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Relevent research results from solar cells will be useful for a wide variety of industries. High efficiency solar cells will eventually be deployed for housing and mobile electronic applications.

The PI offers a course in Interfacial and Colloid Science and results from this work will directly impact at least one section of the course, where new applications of colloid science are discussed.

inorganic solar cells, solar cells