Abstract
Nitrogen-doped carbon nanodots synthesized from l-arginine and ethylenediamine (NCNDs); citric acid-derived carbon nanodots with carboxylic surface groups (α-CDs); and Silica-Cdots hybrids produced through coupling α-CDs to SiO2 nanoparticles were used for the fabrication of fluorescent PMMA-CDs optical films. The nanoparticles occlusion allows the conversion of a broader UV bandwidth to the visible by enhancing PMMA’s natural fluorescence. This UV-to-Visible conversion boost can enhance the efficiency of solar energy concentrators and generators and, as a proof-of-concept, photovoltaic cells were coated with NCNDs-doped PMMA films. Experiments show an 11.3% cell efficiency increase after film application, which can be further enhanced by optimizing film production and deployment, what shows the feasibility and potential of these low-cost environmentally friendly materials.
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Acknowledgements
Authors thank São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) for the financial support (Grants 2019/22554-4 and 2018/08782-1); Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior–Brazil (CAPES), finance code 001; National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), finance code 001; M.P. is the AXA Chair for Bionanotechnology (2016-2023). This study was supported by the University of Trieste, INSTM; the Italian Ministry of Education, MIUR (cofin Prot. 2017PBXPN4); and the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, MICIU (project PID2019-108523RB-I00). Part of this research was performed under the Maria de Maeztu Units of Excellence Program from the Spanish State Research Agency, Grant no. MDM-2017-0720. We also thank Prof. Maurizio Prato, Dr. Francesca Arcudi, Dr. Giacomo Filippini and Beatrice Bartolomei from the Carbon Nanotechnology Group, Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Trieste (Italy); and Igor Abbe from the Laboratory of Microelectronics, Polytechnic School, University of São Paulo, SP, Brazil for the technical and experimental support and insights on data interpretation.
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Soares, M.C.P., Cacioppo, M., Amato, F. et al. Fabrication of fluorescent PMMA-carbon nanodots optical films and their feasibility in improving solar cells efficiency using low-cost sustainable materials. Braz. J. Chem. Eng. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43153-023-00408-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43153-023-00408-w