The carrier collection efficiency (ηc) and energy conversion efficiency (ηe) of polymer photovoltaic cells were improved by blending of the semiconducting polymer with C60 or its functionalized derivatives. Composite films of poly(2-methoxy-5-(2′-ethyl-hexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene) (MEH-PPV) and fullerenes exhibit ηc of about 29 percent of electrons per photon and ηe of about 2.9 percent, efficiencies that are better by more than two orders of magnitude than those that have been achieved with devices made with pure MEH-PPV. The efficient charge separation results from photoinduced electron transfer from the MEH-PPV (as donor) to C60 (as acceptor); the high collection efficiency results from a bicontinuous network of internal donor-acceptor heterojunctions.

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Polymer photovoltaic cells : enhanced efficiencies via a network of internal donor-acceptor heterojunctions

Energy harvested directly from sunlight offers a desirable approach toward fulfilling, with minimal environmental impact, the need for clean energy. Solar energy is a decentralized and inexhaustible natural resource, with the magnitude of the available solar power striking the earth’s surface at any one instant equal to 130 million 500 MW power plants.1 However, several important goals need to be met to fully utilize solar energy for the global energy demand. First, the means for solar energy conversion, storage, and distribution should be environmentally benign, i.e. protecting ecosystems instead of steadily weakening them. The next important goal is to provide a stable, constant energy flux. Due to the daily and seasonal variability in renewable energy sources such as sunlight, energy harvested from the sun needs to be efficiently converted into chemical fuel that can be stored, transported, and used upon demand. The biggest challenge is whether or not these goals can be met in a costeffective way on the terawatt scale.2

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/cr1002326

Solar Water Splitting Cells

Evidence for photoinduced electron transfer from the excited state of a conducting polymer onto buckminsterfullerene, C(60), is reported. After photo-excitation of the conjugated polymer with light of energy greater than the pi-pi* gap, an electron transfer to the C(60) molecule is initiated. Photoinduced optical absorption studies demonstrate a different excitation spectrum for the composite as compared to the separate components, consistent with photo-excited charge transfer. A photoinduced electron spin resonance signal exhibits signatures of both the conducting polymer cation and the C(60) anion. Because the photoluminescence in the conducting polymer is quenched by interaction with C(60), the data imply that charge transfer from the excited state occurs on a picosecond time scale. The charge-separated state in composite films is metastable at low temperatures.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/258/5087/1474.full.pdf

Photoinduced electron transfer from a conducting polymer to buckminsterfullerene.

The interest in heterogeneous photocatalysis is intense and increasing, as shown by the number of publications on this theme which regularly appear in this journal, and the fact that over 2000 papers have been published on this topic since 1981. This article is an overview of the field of semiconductor photocatalysis : a brief examination of its roots, achievements and possible future. The semiconductor titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) features predominantly in past and present work on semiconductor photocatalysis; as a result, in the most of the examples selected in this overview to illustrate various points the semiconductor is TiO 2 .

An overview of semiconductor photocatalysis

Preface Acknowledgements Notation Part I. Overview and Background Topics: 1. Introduction 2. Overview 3. Theoretical background 4. Periodic solids and electron bands 5. Uniform electron gas and simple metals Part II. Density Functional Theory: 6. Density functional theory: foundations 7. The Kohn-Sham ansatz 8. Functionals for exchange and correlation 9. Solving the Kohn-Sham equations Part III. Important Preliminaries on Atoms: 10. Electronic structure of atoms 11. Pseudopotentials Part IV. Determination of Electronic Structure, The Three Basic Methods: 12. Plane waves and grids: basics 13. Plane waves and grids: full calculations 14. Localized orbitals: tight binding 15. Localized orbitals: full calculations 16. Augmented functions: APW, KKR, MTO 17. Augmented functions: linear methods Part V. Predicting Properties of Matter from Electronic Structure - Recent Developments: 18. Quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) 19. Response functions: photons, magnons ... 20. Excitation spectra and optical properties 21. Wannier functions 22. Polarization, localization and Berry's phases 23. Locality and linear scaling O (N) methods 24. Where to find more Appendixes References Index.

Electronic Structure: Basic Theory and Practical Methods

Multiple-Phase-Shift Super Structure Grating DBR Lasers for Broad Wavelength Tuning

We have found that a photoactive metal selenide film, such as CdSe, may be formed by cathodic eletrodeposition from a seleno-sulfite (SeSO3 2-) solution without the need for a subsequent heat treating step which, it is hypothesized, was required by the simultaneous deposition of elemental selenium.

Method of making metal-chalcogenide photosensitive devices

Liquid-semiconductor photocells using chalcogenide semiconductors have been advanced recently to the point where they compete favorably with silicon devices for solar power conversion. However, in common with silicon devices, the semiconductor needs to be a single crystal. This fact makes solar power impractically expensive. According to this invention, the chalcogenide semiconductor is made by anodizing cadmium or bismuth in a sulfide, selenide or telluride electrolyte. The anodized element, when operated photovoltaically in an electrolyte similar to the anodizing solution, produces useful power conversion and is relatively inexpensive.

Liquid-semiconductor junction photocell

Photo‐Oxidation of Cu(I) at n ‐ InP in Concentrated Chloride

Formation of buried InGaAsP/InP quantum well waveguides by means of phosphorus ion implantation and thermal annealing during regrowth is demonstrated. Absorption spectra of implanted and unimplanted regions are used to estimate the induced index difference, which is of the order of 1% at 1.55 μm. Calculated mode intensities are in good agreement with the observed near field intensity patterns. With this etchless implant technique, we achieve a significant reduction in propagation loss for singlemode pin waveguides relative to etched semi-insulating planar buried heterostructure waveguides fabricated from the same quantum well structure. In addition to reduced scattering loss, buried quantum well waveguides produced by ion implantation are more manufacturable because fewer and less-critical processing steps are involved.

Barry Miller

Papers

Multiple-Phase-Shift Super Structure Grating DBR Lasers for Broad Wavelength Tuning

Method of making metal-chalcogenide photosensitive devices

Liquid-semiconductor junction photocell

Photo‐Oxidation of Cu(I) at n ‐ InP in Concentrated Chloride

InGaAsP/InP quantum well buried heterostructure waveguides produced by ion implantation