Researchers develop innovative light-collection system

Structural formula of four merocyanine dyes (left) that are stacked to form the new light-harvesting system URPB (right). Credit: Alexander Schulz / University of Würzburg

To convert sunlight into electricity or other forms of energy as efficiently as possible, we first need an efficient light-concentrating system. Ideally, this should be panchromatic, i.e. absorbing the entire visible light spectrum.

The light-collecting antennae of plants and bacteria are models of this: they capture a wide range of light for photosynthesis, but are very complex structures and require various dyes to transmit and concentrate the energy of the absorbed light to a central point.

The light-concentrating systems humans have developed so far also have their drawbacks.

Inorganic semiconductors such as silicon are panchromatic but absorb light weakly: very thick silicon layers, on the order of micrometres, are needed to absorb enough light energy, making the solar cell relatively bulky and heavy.

Organic dyes suitable for solar cells are much thinner – layers only about 100 nanometres thick – but they are not particularly efficient as they can barely absorb a wide spectral range.

A thin layer absorbs a lot of light energy

Researchers at the Julius Maximilian University (JMU) Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany, have reported in the journal Chem an innovative light-collection system that is significantly different from conventional systems.

“Our system has a band structure similar to inorganic semiconductors, meaning it absorbs light panchromatically across the entire visible light range, and we use the high absorption coefficients of organic dyes. As a result, a relatively thin layer can absorb a large amount of light energy, similar to natural light-harvesting systems,” says Frank Wertner, a JMU professor of chemistry.

His team from the Institute of Organic Chemistry/Center for Nanosystems Chemistry designed the light-collection system at JMU and investigated it in collaboration with Professor Tobias Brixner's group at the Institute of Physics and Theoretical Chemistry.

An original combination of four dyes

Simply put, Würzburg's innovative light-harvesting antenna consists of four different merocyanine dyes that are folded and tightly stacked on top of each other. The elaborate arrangement of the molecules allows for ultrafast and efficient energy transport within the antenna.

The researchers named this new light-harvesting system prototype URPB, with the letters representing the wavelengths of light absorbed by the antenna's four dye components: U for ultraviolet, R for red, P for violet, and B for blue.

Proven performance with fluorescence

The researchers demonstrated that this new light-harvesting system works very well by measuring the so-called fluorescence quantum yield, which means that they measure the amount of energy the system gives off in the form of fluorescence, which allows them to draw conclusions about the amount of light energy that has been harvested so far.

As a result, the system converts 38% of the light energy impinging on it into fluorescence across a wide spectral range, whereas each of the four dyes converts less than 1% to a maximum of 3%. So the right combination and clever spatial arrangement of the dye molecules in the stack makes all the difference.

Further information: Panchromatic light-harvesting antennas via supramolecular exciton band engineering of heteromeric dye foldamers, Chem (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.chempr.2024.05.023. www.cell.com/chem/fulltext/S2451-9294(24)00245-6

Journal information: Chem Provided by: University of Würzburg

Source: Solar Technology: Researchers Develop Innovative Light Harvesting System (June 26, 2024) Retrieved June 27, 2024 from https://techxplore.com/news/2024-06-solar-technology-harvesting.html

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