Rice, Penn State labs lay groundwork for block copolymer
solar cells
A new version of solar cells created by laboratories at Rice
and Pennsylvania State universities could open the door to research on a new
class of solar energy devices.
The photovoltaic devices created in a project led by Rice
chemical engineer Rafael Verduzco and Penn State chemical engineer Enrique
Gomez are based on block copolymers, self-assembling organic materials that
arrange themselves into distinct layers. They easily outperform other cells
with polymer compounds as active elements.
The discovery is detailed online in the American Chemical
Society journal Nano Letters.