Speaker
Description
As the world moves to a more sustainable economy, renewable energy sources will have an increasing role in electricity generation. Converting sunlight into electric current is one of the most promising technologies in this area. Silicon solar cells dominate the photovoltaic device landscape, but there exist possible improvements that only organic materials could offer, being cheap, lightweight, and flexible. Organic photovoltaic materials that can undergo singlet fission allow for a twofold increase of the number of charge carriers, exceeding the Shockley-Queisser limit, which puts an upper bound on solar energy conversion.
Herein, we propose a strategy for the design of chromophores, capable of singlet fission. Quantum chemical calculations at a trustworthy level show that the candidate structures are likely to absorb visible photons and have the potential to prevail over the silicon-based solar cells. The results are interpreted in terms of topology, stability, and open-shell character.
Acknowledgements: The study is supported by the Bulgarian National Science Fund, Project КП-06-H39/2 from 09.12.2019 and by the National Research Program E+: DMC 577/17.08.2018, grant agreement D01-214/28.11.2018. J.S. acknowledges the support received from the program “Young scientists and Postdoctoral candidates” of the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science, MCD No. 577/17.08.2018.
| Speaker Country | Bulgaria |
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