Bi-continuous Multi-component Nanocrystal Superlattices for Solar Energy Conversion
- Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States). Dept. of Electrical & Systems Engineering; Dept. of Chemistry, and Dept. of Materials Science & Engineering
- Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry, and Dept. of Materials Science & Engineering
- Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States). Dept. of Physics & Astronomy
- Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States). Dept. of Electrical & Systems Engineering
Our SISGR program studied an emerging class of nanomaterials wherein different combinations of semiconductor or semiconductor and plasmonic nanocrystals (NCs) are self-assembled into three-dimensional multi-component superlattices. The NC assemblies were designed to form bicontinuous semiconductor NC sublattices with type-II energy offsets to drive charge separation onto electron and hole transporting sublattices for collection and introduce plasmonic NCs to increase solar absorption and charge separation. Our group is expert in synthesizing and assembling an extraordinary variety of artificial systems by tailoring the NC building blocks and the superlattice unit cell geometry. Under this DOE BES Materials Chemistry program, we introduced chemical methods to control inter-particle distance and to dope NC assemblies, which enabled our demonstration of strong electronic communication between NCs and the use of NC thin films as electronic materials. We synthesized, assembled and structurally, spectroscopically, and electrically probed NC superlattices to understand and manipulate the flow of energy and charge toward discovering the design rules and optimizing these complex architectures to create materials that efficiently convert solar radiation into electricity.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0002158
- OSTI ID:
- 1363815
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-PENN-2158
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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