Novel optoelectronic technique reveals limitations to the movement of electrons through organic solar cells, pointing the way toward improved performance Nanditha Dissanayake, Matthew Eisaman, Yutong Pang, and Ahsan Ashraf display the setup used to track the flow of electrons through the photoactive layer of organic solar cells. The red and black wires in the box in the foreground (also shown in close-up) are connected to a solar cell that is in contact with a prism. The prism guides laser light through the cell in a range of specific directions to gain precise information about how electrons flow. UPTON, NY—Sunlight absorbed by organic solar cells must first navigate a nanoscale gauntlet before becoming useable electricity. After hitting the light-absorbing material of the solar cell, called the photoactive layer, absorbed sunlight excites electrons, freeing them to find their way through a maze filled with twists, turns, dead-ends, and collisions. Only the free charges that successfully make it through this maze can be used in a circuit as electricity. So scientists have been looking for ways to ease the electron traffic jam in organic photovoltaics. Now, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and Stony Brook University have developed

The post Shedding New Light on the ‘Electron Highways’ of Organic Solar Cells has been published on Technology Org.

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