Using exotic particles called quantum dots as the basis for a photovoltaic cell is not a new idea, but attempts to make such devices have not yet achieved sufficiently high efficiency in converting sunlight to power. A new ...
Nanophysics
Mar 25, 2013
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In a remarkable feat, scientists at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, have developed thin film solar cells on flexible polymer foils with a new record efficiency of 20.4 percent for ...
Energy & Green Tech
Jan 17, 2013
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(Phys.org)—British researchers at King's College in London have succeeded in creating quantum dots by feeding earthworms soil laced with certain metals and then collecting the material excreted. They describe their research ...
For the first time, a silicon-based optical fiber with solar-cell capabilities has been developed that has been shown to be scalable to many meters in length. The research opens the door to the possibility of weaving together ...
Materials Science
Dec 6, 2012
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(Phys.org)—A team of interdisciplinary researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has developed a new method for significantly increasing the heat transfer rate across two different materials. Results of the team's ...
Nanophysics
Dec 4, 2012
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(Phys.org)—Stanford University scientists have built the first solar cell made entirely of carbon, a promising alternative to the expensive materials used in photovoltaic devices today.
Nanomaterials
Oct 31, 2012
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A technology that would enable low-cost, high efficiency solar cells to be made from virtually any semiconductor material has been developed by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National ...
Nanophysics
Jul 26, 2012
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(Phys.org) -- Similar to how tighter stiches make for a better quality quilt, the "stitching" between individual crystals of graphene affects how well these carbon monolayers conduct electricity and retain their strength, ...
Nanomaterials
Jun 1, 2012
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Addressing a half-century-old question, engineers at Stanford have conclusively determined how collective electron oscillations, called plasmons, behave in individual metal particles as small as just a few nanometers in diameter. ...
Nanophysics
Mar 21, 2012
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In the effort to convert sunlight into electricity, photovoltaic solar cells that use conductive organic polymers for light absorption and conversion have shown great potential. Organic polymers can be produced ...
Optics & Photonics
Feb 13, 2012
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