The discovery of a new liquid crystal material could lead to the development of new and improved solar panels, while increasing the ability to print organic solar cells.
[Translation by Dr. Nachmani Moshe]
The discovery of a new liquid crystal material could lead to the development of new and improved solar panels, while increasing the ability to print organic solar cells.
In an article published a long time ago in the scientific journal Nature Communications [The full article], researchers from the University of Melbourne claim that their discovery of novel liquid crystals could lead to the development of highly improved organic solar cells.
The lead researcher, Dr. David Jones, from the School of Chemistry at the University of Melbourne in Australia, says that these cells will be easier to manufacture, with the new crystals able to operate today inside cells that will be twice as thin as the previous limit of 200 nanometers. "We were able to improve the performance of this type of solar cell from 8% to 9.3%, making significant progress towards the international benchmark of 10% efficiency."
This means that consumers will be able to expect more competitive pricing in the solar energy sector, and according to the chief researcher, the discovery will also be able to promote the entire organic materials sector. "Our discovery is one step forward for the wider commercialization of printed organic solar cells. But more than that - the discovery could help the development of innovative materials with improved performance, for example for LCD monitors."
The progress of the current generation of organic solar cells is slower compared to the more common silicon-based systems, this is in light of the fact that they are much less efficient even in simple production using large printers. This is despite the variety of their possible applications: they can be designed to fit almost any type of structure or surface, this is in contrast to the usual and rigid production of silicon-based cells.
"Researchers previously theorized that a certain group of liquid crystals would be able to display superior electronic properties - and they would also be printable. As part of our research, we were able to show, for the first time ever, the ability of these materials to have high performance."
"We saw recently, during the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, that printed electronic components do exist in everyday use, as part of phones and even cars." The news about the study
The chemical structure of the innovative liquid crystal that enables the printing of solar panels and flexible displays.
