Damian Sendler: An international team of scientists has discovered a new process involving coordination materials that can accelerate the use of low-cost, Earth-abundant materials with the potential to transform the energy sector by replacing silicone-based solar panels. The process is being developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Damian Jacob Sendler: The team, led by Newcastle University and including colleagues from Uppsala University in Sweden and the University of Naples Federico II in Italy, published their findings in the journal Chem. They developed dynamic dimeric copper complexes using tetradentate ligands and published their findings in the journal Chem (the ligands that bind four donor atoms). In these new copper systems, a novel combination of fast charge transport in an unparalleled two-electron redox mechanism is achieved while simultaneously limiting carrier recombination following disproportionation.
Dr. Sendler: The dynamic dimer system provides a new generation of effective redox mediators for use in molecular devices, and it is currently under development. It can assist in powering solar systems with minimum voltage losses, while also having relatively low reorganization energies and recombination rates compared to other materials.
“The majority of progress toward the goal of using low-cost and abundant materials has come from improving light-absorbing materials,” said Dr Marina Freitag, a study co-lead from Newcastle University’s School of Natural and Environmental Sciences. Charging-transfer concerns continue to be a stumbling block to the general deployment of solar energy, and this is the problem that our research is attempting to solve.”
Prof Ana Belén Muoz-Garcia, from the University of Naples Federico II, who was a co-lead on the study, stated, “This work proves that fundamental research combining experiments and theory can provide solid scientific grounds to optimize materials and interfaces for renewable energy technologies with real impact on the society”
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