Study on photovoltaic cells is Hot Article

Replacing photovoltaic panels with windows capable of producing electricity? A study by the LaserLab at the University of Coimbra (UC) into third-generation photovoltaic cells, which are more efficient and cheaper than current systems, has taken a step towards the future development of windows that transform sunlight into electricity. The results were recently published in the journal Dalton Transactions, in a HOT Article.

Funded by FCT and LaserLab Europe, and coordinated by Carlos Serpa and Hugh Burrows, the study evaluated the potential of some platinum compounds to convert solar energy into electricity. Using a sensitive photoacoustic calorimetry method, it was possible to determine the degree of efficiency of electron transfer from these platinum compounds linked to a set of organic molecules to a semiconductor material, in order to produce electricity, in a rational use of solar energy.

The Platinum compounds studied, explains Carlos Serpa, "have the great advantage of their capacity for intense absorption in the visible and part of the near infrared spectrum. Put more simply, if we think of the colors of the rainbow, these platinum compounds have a strong capacity to absorb a large part of these colors, especially the red color, which is more difficult to capture. This is an essential characteristic for the efficient transformation of sunlight into electrical energy."

However, as the researcher explains, "it was found that the lifetime of the compound in the state required for transformation into electrical energy is very short, competing with the transfer of electrons to the electrical circuit. For this reason, further studies are still needed, which involve modifying the molecules surrounding the Platinum atom, thus altering the properties of the compound to obtain the most favorable conditions for transforming the captured sunlight into electricity."