Event Type
Research Presentation
Academic Department
Chemistry
Location
Dana Science Building, 2nd floor
Start Date
25-4-2025 1:00 PM
End Date
25-4-2025 2:30 PM
Description
Under the direction of Dr. Brian Reeves
Bulk heterojunction solar cells composed of fullerene electron acceptors and polymer electron donors are the current leaders in the field of flexible and transparent solar cells. The solubility of these components enables low-cost production of thin, transparent films but renders low efficiency. Metal chalcogenide nanosheets, such as CdS, CdSe, ZnS, and ZnSe represent potential solutions to the problem. Although these materials are difficult to process because of their low solubility, it is hypothesized that chemically bonding fullerenes to CdX (X= S, Se) and ZnX nanosheets will improve nanosheet stability and solubility while maintaining flexibility and transparency. This would allow them to be used as a new electron transport material to make efficient, flexible, and transparent solar cells. The synthesis of N-boc protected nanosheets as precursors to CdX and ZnX fullerene-functionalized nanosheets is presented here. Preliminary characterization including FT-IR, UV-visible, fluorescence spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction is presented.
Synthesis and Characterization of Precursors to Fullerene-Functionalized Metal Chalcogenide Nanosheets
Dana Science Building, 2nd floor
Under the direction of Dr. Brian Reeves
Bulk heterojunction solar cells composed of fullerene electron acceptors and polymer electron donors are the current leaders in the field of flexible and transparent solar cells. The solubility of these components enables low-cost production of thin, transparent films but renders low efficiency. Metal chalcogenide nanosheets, such as CdS, CdSe, ZnS, and ZnSe represent potential solutions to the problem. Although these materials are difficult to process because of their low solubility, it is hypothesized that chemically bonding fullerenes to CdX (X= S, Se) and ZnX nanosheets will improve nanosheet stability and solubility while maintaining flexibility and transparency. This would allow them to be used as a new electron transport material to make efficient, flexible, and transparent solar cells. The synthesis of N-boc protected nanosheets as precursors to CdX and ZnX fullerene-functionalized nanosheets is presented here. Preliminary characterization including FT-IR, UV-visible, fluorescence spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction is presented.