The ability of 'smart windows' to generate electricity is the way forward, and scientists go one step further and they will make 'smart windows' widely used in everyday life.
Dye-sensitized solar cells are a thin, flexible material that mimics the principle of photosynthesis and can produce transparent electronic circuits that can be embedded in windows with walls and the building can use the windows Power supply. Sometime this material will outweigh the current solar panel technology, but due to a lack of understanding of how the photosensitizer interacts with the semiconductor surface at the molecular level, the technology has not been able to further improve today effectiveness.
A study published earlier this year in the journal Nanoscale further reveals the mechanism by which dye interacts with the surface of the semiconductor and scientists at the University of Cambridge in Argonne National Laboratory of the US Department of Energy developed the results Help develop a new technology to help cities become more energy-efficient by harnessing the power of windows' surfaces.
The study simulates a fully assembled solar cell window between the organic dye and the semiconductor surface, and the molecular structure of the working electrode therein, which is the conductor through which the current will flow. The sensitizing dye adsorbs to the nanoporous titanium dioxide film surface from Sunscreens to pigments, food coloring, and the presence of titanium dioxide everywhere. Previous research has mimicked the molecular structure of individual components that make up solar cell windows, but does not take into account the fact that the chemical composition of each component of the solar cell may affect the solar cell The impact of efficiency.
Jacqui Cole, the study's lead author and Cambridge group molecular engineering research team leader, said in a statement: 'Our research has demonstrated that certain chemistries can significantly affect the photovoltaic performance of solar cells, some of which were previously Has been neglected.We only need to properly improve the performance of these solar cells, you can make them more competitive, because the relationship between price and performance of the solar cell industry determines the economy.Compared with other solar cell technology, The cost of manufacturing dye-sensitized solar cells is very cheap. '
There are other studies that are in the process of developing similar technologies in the hope of absorbing sunlight efficiently over a wide range of sources. Researchers from Michigan State University have built similar transparent solar panels and according to scientists, if the technology can be applied Billions of square meters of usable glass surface in the country could have completely replaced fossil fuels, while another study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology combines artificial DNA helix and dye to capture light, Although this special mechanism has not yet been made of materials like windows or textiles.
In Cole's study, further understanding of the interaction between the dye and the TiO 2 structure would provide a 'tool' for molecular engineering to obtain a more suitable dye-sensitized solar cell dye with reasonable design. Helps artificial materials pick up light from the sun, similar to how plants pick up light during photosynthesis. Dye molecules are excited by sunlight, allowing energy to flow through the conductive titanium dioxide so the dye is absorbed.
Cole said: 'This will stimulate the current in the loop.'
Instead, they used an organic dye called 'MK-2', which is currently in laboratory testing but metal-organic dyes have been commercialized, Cole also notes that a tower at Graz, Austria The building has already used a power-generating window on the top of the tower.
So far, the commercialization of solar-powered windows using this technology has been actively pushed forward, and some of the exemplary buildings powered by them have also been built. "
