2for1-SingletFission · 2 for 1: Quantum Dynamics of Singlet Fission
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2016-10-05 → 2018-10-04
- EU contribution
- €195,455
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
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Results in brief
2 for 1: Quantum Dynamics of Singlet Fission
This project was motivated by the need for developing renewable energy sources in an effort to mitigate the effects of climate change. We focussed on the development of next generation solar cells. While conventional solar cell technology is already competitive when compared to the cost of fossil fuel electricity generation, we are looking toward a future where increased energy demands and limited land area will necessitate highly efficient solar energy harvesting devices. Conventional solar cell technology is limited to an energy conversion efficiency of 34%. This is because sunlight is comprised of a spectrum of colours, ranging from high energy ultraviolet to low energy infra-red light. Conventional solar cells are designed to harvest one energy of light efficiently. Higher energy light is harvested, but generates heat losses and low energy light is not harvested at all. In this project we studied a class of molecules which undergo a process called ‘singlet fission’ which allows for the generation of two excited molecules from one quanta of light. This allows us to engineer the solar spectrum with the intention of developing more efficient solar cells. Singlet fission is still not completely understood. Of particular interest is the intermediate state in the singlet fission process and the effects of molecular orientation. The objectives of this project are to gain further insight into the process on rapid timescales (in some experiments less than 1 millionth of 1 millionth of a second!) by using a combination of optical and magneto-optical spectroscopies.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The generation of renewable energy is of paramount importance as we move toward a low carbon economy. Solar cells represent a partial solution to this problem, and there has already been significant uptake of these technologies globally. In the proposed project we will study a quantum mechanical process which occurs in organic semiconductors called singlet fission (SF). Put simply this process involves a molecule absorbing a photon, and the resulting electron-hole pair ‘sharing’ its energy with a neighbouring molecule, to produce two electron-hole pairs. As such, SF has the potential to double the electrical current generated by these molecules from sunlight. While it has been studied since the 1960s, new experimental techniques developed in the host laboratory have recently lead to breakthroughs in our understanding of SF. The aim is of this project is to understand the intricacies of SF so that it can be exploited to achieve dramatic increases in device efficiencies. This will be achieved using a two-pronged approach to the problem. The first is the use of newly developed ultrafast spectroscopic techniques to understand the fundamental aspects of SF. The host group is world-renowned for using spectroscopy to produce breakthroughs in our understanding of organic electronics and quantum chemistry. The second will leverage the applicant’s background in physical chemistry to engineer SF systems with control on a molecular length scale. By combining these two innovations the project is expected to produce important results for the research community. These results will enhance our understanding of SF, with a view to exploit the process in real-world devices. We will elucidate the vibronic nature of intermolecular electronic processes with an unprecedented level of sensitivity. This has broader implications for our fundamental understanding of molecular physics, and the work will be a step toward an overarching picture of multi-molecular excitonic processes.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE · CAMBRIDGECoordinatorUnited Kingdom
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union