Ron Romero Intro to Nanotechnology Dr.

Wesley Sanders April 6, 2014

The use of graphene in solar cells. !

Graphene is a two-dimensional material with many unique properties, such as low resistance, excellent optical transmittance, and high mechanical and chemical stabilities. These exceptional advantages possess great promise for its potential applications in photovoltaic devices, and the harnessing of energy. Graphene has many unique properties such as, it is highly conductive, and is optically transparent, it is also inexpensive and nontoxic. These properties are attractive in the implementation of graphene into the production of solar cells. With its conductivity and transparency properties, researches have deemed graphene to be the near perfect candidate for the transparent contact layers used in solar cells. Graphene electrons retain energy for some time after having been irradiated with the high-energy laser (or the suns rays). In other materials, the electron energy decays faster and they lose their energy immediately after having been irradiated. Graphene makes it possible to store the energy, enhancing the energy conversion before the electrons' energy decays. Graphene is also capable of absorbing the entire light spectrum of sunlight, unlike silicon, which cannot absorb infrared light. First uses of grapheme consisted of coating silicon with a layer of graphene doped with (trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide (TFSA), this resulted in an 8.6 percent efficiency of a prototype solar cell. Today scientists have reached nearly double that 15.6 percent by eliminating silicon all together. Although still not at the level of todays current photovoltaic cells,

graphene will provide an inexpensive way for all to harness the power of the sun, hopefully in the near future. Not only is the use of graphene being considered for use in solar cells, but how about smaller electrical devices such as calculators, solar powered panels in lights and roofs, the material is lighter, less expensive, more flexible ( less breakable), and much more efficient. A student at the University of Cincinnati, Fei Yu claims There has been a lot of study on how to make plastic solar cells more efficient, so they can take the place of silicon solar cells in the future," says Yu. "They can be made into thinner, lighter and more flexible panels. However, they're currently not as efficient as silicon solar cells, so we're examining how to increase that efficiency.(http://phys.org/news/2014-03-discovery-solar-power-expensive-efficient.html, web, 2014). Graphene also used in faster recharge of lithium-ion batteries, when placed on the surface of the anode, have been shown that the time needed to recharge the batteries is much less than with conventional lithium-ion batteries. While still in experimental phase, graphene may one day change the world by providing a more cost effective, efficient way of heating homes, powering vehicles, and even the smallest of electrical devices that may accompany our future. Graphene may be a possible solution to help solve the issue of cost and production of renewable energy. Although still in developmental phases, it has progressed rapidly and will continue to progress. Hopefully in the near future we will witness the great benefits that graphene may bring.

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Source page
1. http://phys.org/news/2014-03-discovery-solar-power-expensive-efficient.html 2. http://www.tomsguide.com/us/science-research-graphene-solar-energy,news-14962.html 3. http://phys.org/news/2014-03-iii-v-nanowire-solar-cells-graphene.html 4. Kaniyoor, A, & Ramaprabhu, S 2011, 'Thermally exfoliated graphene based counter electrode for low cost dye sensitized solar cells', Journal Of Applied Physics, 109, 12, p. 124308, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 9 April 2014.