Dendrimer-based photovoltaic device is based on plant structure

Amherst, MA--A new polymer-based method for creating photovoltaic devices has been identified by chemists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of California-Riverside. The new technique could, they hope, lead to the creation of more-efficient solar cells than are achievable using the current generation of semiconductors.¹

Sankaran Thayumanavan and co-workers took inspiration from plants and experimented with organic molecules to mimic the photosynthetic machinery of plants. Their photovoltaic device was designed using large, highly branched, nonbiological organic molecules called dendrimers, based on plant anatomy. Branches allow the dendrimer to absorb photons from a wide area and funnel this energy to the dendrimer's core where it is connected to a polymer "wire." At the core, charge is separated and the electrons travel down the polymer "wire" to an electrode where electricity is produced. Thayumanavan is director of the University of Massachusetts Amherst's Fueling the Future Center for Chemical Innovation.

The dendrimer-based device was made more operable through dendron-rod-coil scaffolds that allow for separating photoinduced charge. "The hope is that such a bio-inspired design could approach the conversion efficiency that plants achieve naturally," said Thayumanavan.

REFERENCE

1. Arpornrat Nantalaksakul et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2009, 131 (7), p. 2727, DOI: 10.1021/ja809194u