Revolutionary system monitors water pollution

Toxic microalgae, viruses and chemical contaminants are floating in our waters. These hazardous materials pose a high risk to the livelihood of the sea dwellers. Especially the aquaculture is affected by this rising problem.

 

According to the European Commission nowadays already 24 percent of the fishes come from the EU aquacultures, which soon will surpass wild fisheries as the main source of seafood.

Current methods of measurements need too much time, so that farmer´s cannot take action and at worst they could lose their whole stock.

Scientists of the EU-funded project Enviguard are now developing a real time monitoring system for offshore aquacultures. Applied on a moored buoy, the small device undertakes the same functions as a fully equipped laboratory. Three different sensors can allow a simultaneous monitoring of different threats. With this technology fish farmers can be warned timely, and prevent an epidemic in their aquacultures.

 

Toxic microalgae, viruses and chemical contaminants are floating in our waters. These hazardous materials pose a high risk to the livelihood of the sea dwellers. Especially the aquaculture is affected by this rising problem. According to the European Commission nowadays already 24 percent of the fishes come from the EU aquacultures, which soon will surpass wild fisheries as the main source of seafood. Credit: Ute de Groot

 

New “gold nanocluster” Technology Revolutionizes Solar Power

Scientists at Western University have discovered that a small molecule created with just 144 atoms of gold can increase solar cell performance by more than 10 per cent.

 

 

 

These findings, published recently by the high-impact journal Nanoscale, represent a game-changing innovation that holds the potential to take solar power mainstream and dramatically decrease the world’s dependence on traditional, resource-based sources of energy, says Giovanni Fanchini from Western’s Faculty of Science.

Fanchini, the Canada Research Chair in Carbon-based Nanomaterials and Nano-optoelectronics, says the new technology could easily be fast-tracked and integrated into prototypes of solar panels in one to two years and solar-powered phones in as little as five years.

“Every time you recharge your cell phone, you have to plug it in,” says Fanchini, an assistant professor in Western’s Department of Physics and Astronomy. “What if you could charge mobile devices like phones, tablets or laptops on the go? Not only would it be convenient, but the potential energy savings would be significant.”

The Western researchers have already started working with manufacturers of solar components to integrate their findings into existing solar cell technology and are excited about the potential.

“The Canadian business industry already has tremendous know-how in solar manufacturing,” says Fanchini. “Our invention is modular, an add-on to the existing production process, so we anticipate a working prototype very quickly.”

Making nanoplasmonic enhancements, Fanchini and his team use “gold nanoclusters” as building blocks to create a flexible network of antennae on more traditional solar panels to attract an increase of light. While nanotechnology is the science of creating functional systems at the molecular level, nanoplasmonics investigates the interaction of light with and within these systems.

“Picture an extremely delicate fishnet of gold,” explains Fanchini explains, noting that the antennae are so miniscule they are unseen even with a conventional optical microscope. “The fishnet catches the light emitted by the sun and draws it into the active region of the solar cell.”

According to Fanchini, the spectrum of light reflected by gold is centered on the yellow colour and matches the light spectrum of the sun making it superior for such antennae as it greatly amplifies the amount of sunlight going directly into the device.

“Gold is very robust, resilient to oxidization and not easily damaged, making it the perfect material for long-term use,” says Fanchini. “And gold can also be recycled.”

It has been known for some time that larger gold nanoparticles enhance solar cell performance, but the Western team is getting results with “a ridiculously small amount” – approximately 10,000 times less than previous studies, which is 10,000 times less expensive too.

Explore further: Using solar energy to turn raw materials into ingredients for everyday life

Provided by University of Western Ontario

CdTe ink makes high-efficiency solar cell

Cadmium telluride nanocrystal colloids could be used as the photovoltaic “ink” in solar cells, according to new experiments by researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the University of Chicago. Devices made using CdTe layers as thin as just 330 nm have a sunlight-to-power conversion of efficiency of 10% while those made with 550 nm thick layers have an efficiency of more than 11%. They also boast an impressive blue light response of nearly 80% external quantum efficiency – something that allows for improved photocurrent from these cells.

Thin-film photovoltaic materials could be alternatives to traditional silicon-based solar-cell materials because they absorb sunlight more efficiently – thanks to the fact that they have direct rather than indirect bandgaps. This means that less material, weight for weight, is needed to absorb the same amount of solar radiation. What is more, thin-film photovoltaics, such as cadmium telluride, can be easily and cheaply deposited onto a wide range of flexible and rigid substrates in solution.

Spheres, faceted nanocrystals and tetrapods

There is a problem, however, in that the power-conversion efficiencies of thin-film materials that have been processed from solution are typically lower than those produced by traditional vapour deposition techniques.

Now, a team led by Dmitri Talapin of Chicago and Joseph Luther at NREL has succeeded in synthesizing CdTe inks from solutions of nanocrystals that have controllable shapes, ranging from spheres to tetrapods, and controllable crystallographic phases: wurtzite and zincblende. The researchers found that the best performing solar-cell devices are those containing tetrapodal-shaped nanocrystals in the wurtzite phase. Following a relatively low-temperature short anneal, these crystals undergo a critical phase change from wurtzite to zincblende that coincides with the small grain soluble nanocrystals growing into large grain, photovoltaic quality, CdTe.

Layer-by-layer approach

“Rather than depositing the whole CdTe layer at once, we use a layer-by-layer approach to build up a very thin layer of the CdTe and control the grain growth,” explains team member Ryan Crisp, graduate student at the Colorado School of Mines. “We then deposit more nanocrystals and repeat the process until we reach the desired layer thickness.”

As the nanocrystals change phase and sinter (or grow) together, they form polycrystalline films, he adds. These films are unique in that they are exceptionally smooth and uniform (compared with films that are produced by traditional sublimation methods). “This means that further layers have a ‘nice’ surface on which we can deposit without fear of encountering short-circuits caused by irregularities and defects,” he tells nanotechweb.org.

“The crystal grains in our material extend from the top to the bottom in a finished device, allowing us to efficiently extract charge carriers (in this case photoexcited electrons) from it. We are able to do this since the electrons do not encounter many grain boundaries – something that minimizes their chance of being ‘lost’ to defect traps as they travel through the structure.”

Higher-efficiency, lower-cost devices

Solar cells made from the CdTe ink boast a sunlight-to-power conversion efficiency of 10–12%. This value might be further improved by placing the ink on the right type of substrate. “By employing this inexpensive solution-processed ink (instead of the more expensive, and slower throughput thin-film photovoltaic materials produced by sublimation), we can make potentially higher-efficiency, lower-cost devices,” says Crisp. “We explored several device structures and found that the ink-based films perform better in a simple ITO/CdTe/ZnO/Al structure rather than the traditional structure with CdS and ZnTe contacts.”

The main limiting factor to improving device efficiency is increasing the open circuit voltage. “We now plan on improving the quality of the ITO/CdTe interface (used in our highest efficiency device) to do this – and in particular by better controlling the energy levels (that is the band alignment) of the materials at this interface,” adds Crisp.

The new photovoltaic ink is described in ACS Nano

Novel Solar Cell Production Using X-Ray Imaging

The sharp X-ray vision of DESY’s research light source PETRA III paves the way for a new technique to produce cheap, flexible and versatile double solar cells. The method developed by scientists from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) in Roskilde can reliably produce efficient tandem plastic solar cells of many metres in length, as a team around senior researcher Jens W. Andreasen reports in the journal Advanced Energy Materials (“Enabling Flexible Polymer Tandem Solar Cells by 3D Ptychographic Imaging”).

 

The scientists used a production process, where the different layers of a polymer (plastic) solar cell are coated from various solutions onto a flexible substrate. This way, the solar cell can be produced fast and cheap in a roll-to-roll process and in almost any desired length – up to several kilometers long single solar cell modules have already been manufactured. However, the energy harvesting efficiency of this type of solar cell is not very high. To increase the efficiency, a DTU team around Frederik C. Krebs stacked two such solar cells onto each other. Each of these absorbs a different part of the solar spectrum, so that the resulting tandem polymer solar cell converts more of the incoming sunlight into electric energy. But the multilayer coating presents several new challenges, as Andreasen explained: “Lab studies have shown that already coated layers may be dissolved by the solvent from the following layer, causing complete failure of the solar cell.”

 

Ptychographic phase contrast projection of the polymer tandem solar cell stack (two by four microns in size), showing the silver electrode (lower green band) with a polymer layer on top, the upper electrode (upper green band, with red) and the zinc oxide layer (narrow dark blue band) between the two solar cells. The green triangel on top of the sample is the cut-off of a wolfram pin used to manipulate the sample under a scanning electron microscope. (Image: Jens Wenzel Andreasen/DTU)

To prevent redissolution of the first solar cell, the scientists added a carefully composed protective intermediate coating between the two solar cells. The protective coating contains a layer made of zinc oxide (ZnO) that is just 40 nanometres thick – about a thousand times thinner than a human hair. To check shape and function of the protective coating and the other layers of the tandem solar cell, the scientists used the exceptionally sharp X-ray vision of DESY’s research light source PETRA III that can reveal finest details. “The solar cell structure is very delicate, consisting of twelve individual layers altogether.

Imaging the complete structure is challenging,” explained co-author Juliane Reinhardt from DESY’s experimental station P06 where the investigations were made. “And the sample was just two by four microns in size.” Still, with the brilliant X-ray beam from PETRA III, the researchers could peer into the layer structure in fine detail, using a technique called 3D ptychography. This method reconstructs the three-dimensional shape and chemistry of a sample from the way it diffracts the incoming X-rays. For a full 3D reconstruction a great number of overlapping X-ray diffraction images have to be recorded from all sides and angles. The advantage of ptychography is that it yields a higher resolution than would be possible with conventional X-ray imaging alone. And in contrast to electron microscopy, X-ray ptychography can also look deep inside the sample.

“With 3D ptychography, we were able to image the complete roll-to-roll coated tandem solar cell, showing, among other things, the integrity of the 40 nanometres thin zinc oxide layer in the protective coating that successfully preserved underlying layers from solution damage,” said DESY scientist Gerald Falkenberg, head of the experimental station P06. “These are the 3D ptychography measurements with the highest spatial resolution we have achieved so far. The results show that with the correct formulation of the intermediate layer, the underlying solar cell is protected from redissolution.”

The investigation paves the way to a possible industrial application of the new technique. “In a complex multilayer device like a polymer tandem solar cell, the device may fail in multiple ways,” Andreasen pointed out.

“What we were able to see with 3D ptychography was that the preparation of the substrate electrode combines the good conductivity of a coarsely structured silver electrode with the good film forming ability of a conducting polymer that infiltrates the silver electrode and forms a smooth surface for the coating of the subsequent layers.” This is what allows the coating of very thin layers, at very high speeds, still forming contiguous layers, without pinholes.

Looking into the complete structure can also provide valuable information for a possible optimization of the device and the production process. “In principle we make the devices without knowing what the internal structure looks like in detail. But knowing the structure tells us which parameters we can modify, and which factors are important for the device architecture, for example the special type of substrate electrode, and the formulation of the intermediate layer,” Andreasen explained. “We were now able to verify that we can coat contiguous, homogeneous layers, roll-to-roll from solution, at speeds up to several meters per minute. We have shown that roll-to-roll processing of tandem solar cells is possible, with all of the layers roll-coated from solution, and that it is only possible using a specific formulation of the intermediate layer between the two sub-cells.”

The resulting polymer tandem solar cell converts 2.67 per cent of the incoming sunlight into electric energy, which is way below the efficiency of conventional solar cells. “The efficiency is low, compared to conventional solar cells, by a factor of 7 to 8, but one should consider that the production cost of this type of solar cell is several orders of magnitude lower than for conventional solar cells. This is the particular advantage of polymer solar cells,” explained Andreasen. “Furthermore, this is the first example of a roll-to-roll coated tandem solar cell where the efficiency of the tandem device actually exceeds that of the individual sub-cell devices by themselves.”

Source: DESY

 

 

 

 

 

 

10 Emerging Technologies That Will Change/ Have Changed (?) Your World

Note to Readers: It is interesting (To Us at GNT anyway) that the BOLD predictions for technology, should always be IOHO “re-visited”. What follows is the “Top 10 List” from 2004. 10 Years … How have the technology “fortune-tellers” done?!

 

 

10 Emerging Technologies That Will Change Your World

Technology Review unveils its annual selection of hot new technologies about to affect our lives in revolutionary ways-and profiles the innovators behind them.

Full Article Link Here: http://www2.technologyreview.com/featured-story/402435/10-emerging-technologies-that-will-change-your/

Technology Review: February 2004

With new technologies constantly being invented in universities and companies across the globe, guessing which ones will transform computing, medicine, communication, and our energy infrastructure is always a challenge. Nonetheless, Technology Review’s editors are willing to bet that the 10 emerging technologies highlighted in this special package will affect our lives and work in revolutionary ways-whether next year or next decade. For each, we’ve identified a researcher whose ideas and efforts both epitomize and reinvent his or her field. The following snapshots of the innovators and their work provide a glimpse of the future these evolving technologies may provide.

10 Emerging Technologies That Will Change Your World
Universal Translation
Synthetic Biology
Nanowires
T-Rays
Distributed Storage
RNAi Interference
Power Grid Control
Microfluidic Optical Fibers
Bayesian Machine Learning
Personal Genomics

Excerpt: Nanowires:

(Page 4 of 11)

PEIDONG YANG

Nanowires

Few emerging technologies have offered as much promise as nanotechnology, touted as the means of keeping the decades-long electronics shrinkfest in full sprint and transfiguring disciplines from power production to medical diagnostics. Companies from Samsung Electronics to Wilson Sporting Goods have invested in nanotech, and nearly every major university boasts a nanotechnology initiative. Red hot, even within this R&D frenzy, are the researchers learning to make the nanoscale wires that could be key elements in many working nanodevices.

“This effort is critical for the success of the whole [enterprise of] nanoscale science and technology,” says nanowire pioneer Peidong Yang of the University of California, Berkeley. Yang has made exceptional progress in fine-tuning the properties of nanowires. Compared to other nanostructures, “nanowires will be much more versatile, because we can achieve so many different properties just by varying the composition,” says Charles Lieber, a Harvard University chemist who has also been propelling nanowire development.

The World Of Tomorrow: Nanotechnology: Interview with PhD and Attorney D.M. Vernon

The Editor interviews Deborah M. Vernon, PhD, Partner in McCarter & English, LLP’s Boston office.

 

 

 

Why It Matters –

” … I would say the two most interesting areas in the last year or two have been in 3-D printing and nanotechnology. 3-D printing is an additive technology in which one is able to make a three-dimensional product, such as a screw, by adding material rather than using a traditional reduction process, like a CNC (milling) process or a grinding-away process.

The other interesting area has been nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is the science of materials and structures that have a dimension in the nanometer range (1-1,000 nm) – that is, on the atomic or molecular scale. A fascinating aspect of nanomaterials is that they can have vastly different material properties (e.g., chemical, electrical, mechanical properties) than their larger-scale counterparts. As a result, these materials can be used in applications where their larger-scale counterparts have traditionally not been utilized.”

Editor: Deborah, please tell us about the specific practice areas of intellectual property in which you participate.

 

 

Vernon: My practice has been directed to helping clients assess, build, maintain and enforce their intellectual property, especially in the technology areas of material science, analytical chemistry and mechanical engineering. Prior to entering the practice of law, I studied mechanical engineering as an undergraduate and I obtained a PhD in material science engineering, where I focused on creating composite materials with improved mechanical properties.

Editor: Please describe some of the new areas of biological and chemical research into which your practice takes you, such as nanotechnology, three-dimensional printing technology, and other areas.

Vernon: I would say the two most interesting areas in the last year or two have been in 3-D printing and nanotechnology. 3-D printing is an additive technology in which one is able to make a three-dimensional product, such as a screw, by adding material rather than using a traditional reduction process, like a CNC (milling) process or a grinding-away process. The other interesting area has been nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is the science of materials and structures that have a dimension in the nanometer range (1-1,000 nm) – that is, on the atomic or molecular scale.

A fascinating aspect of nanomaterials is that they can have vastly different material properties (e.g., chemical, electrical, mechanical properties) than their larger-scale counterparts. As a result, these materials can be used in applications where their larger-scale counterparts have traditionally not been utilized.

I was fortunate to work in the nanotech field in graduate school. During this time, I investigated and developed methods for forming ceramic composites, which maintain a nanoscale grain size even after sintering. Sintering is the process used to form fully dense ceramic materials. The problem with sintering is that it adds energy to a system, resulting in grain growth of the ceramic materials. In order to maintain the advantageous properties of the nanosized grains, I worked on methods that pinned the ceramic grain boundaries to reduce growth during sintering.

The methods I developed not only involved handling of nanosized ceramic particles, but also the deposition of nanofilms into a porous ceramic material to create nanocomposites. I have been able to apply this experience in my IP practice to assist clients in obtaining and assessing IP in the areas of nanolaminates and coatings, nanosized particles and nanostructures, such as carbon nanotubes, nano fluidic devices, which are very small devices which transport fluids, and 3D structures formed from nanomaterials, such as woven nanofibers.

Editor: I understand that some of the components of the new Boeing 787 are examples of nanotechnology.

Vernon: The design objective behind the 787 is that lighter, better-performing materials will reduce the weight of the aircraft, resulting in longer possible flight times and decreased operating costs. Boeing reports that approximately 50 percent of the materials in the 787 are composite materials, and that nanotechnology will play an important role in achieving and exceeding the design objective. (See, http://www.nasc.com/nanometa/Plenary%20Talk%20Chong.pdf).

While it is believed that nanocomposite materials are used in the fuselage of the 787, Boeing is investigating applying nanotechnology to reduce costs and increase performance not only in fuselage and aircraft structures, but also within energy, sensor and system controls of the aircraft.

Editor: What products have incorporated nanotechnology? What products are anticipated to incorporate its processes in the future?

Vernon: The products that people are the most familiar with are cosmetic products, such as hair products for thinning hair that deliver nutrients deep into the scalp, and sunscreen, which includes nanosized titanium dioxide and zinc oxide to eliminate the white, pasty look of sunscreens. Sports products, such as fishing rods and tennis rackets, have incorporated a composite of carbon fiber and silica nanoparticles to add strength. Nano products are used in paints and coatings to prevent algae and corrosion on the hulls of boats and to help reduce mold and kill bacteria. We’re seeing nanotechnology used in filters to separate chemicals and in water filtration.

The textile industry has also started to use nano coatings to repel water and make fabrics flame resistant. The medical imaging industry is starting to use nanoparticles to tag certain areas of the body, allowing for enhanced MRI imaging. Developing areas include drug delivery, disease detection and therapeutics for oncology. Obviously, those are definitely in the future, but it is the direction of scientific thinking.

Editor: What liabilities can product manufacturers incur who are incorporating nanotechnology into their products? What kinds of health and safety risks are incurred in their manufacture or consumption?

Vernon: There are three different areas that we should think about: the manufacturing process, consumer use and environmental issues. In manufacturing there are potential safety issues with respect to the incorporation or delivery of nanomaterials. For example, inhalation of nanoparticles can cause serious respiratory issues, and contact of some nanoparticles with the skin or eyes may result in irritation. In terms of consumer use, nanomaterials may have different material properties from their larger counterparts.

As a result, we are not quite sure how these materials will affect the human body insofar as they might have a higher toxicity level than in their larger counterparts. With respect to an environmental impact, waste or recycled products may lead to the release of nanoparticles into bodies of water or impact wildlife. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has established the Nanotechnology Research Center to develop a strategic direction with respect to occupational safety and nanotechnology. Guidance and publications can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/nanotech.

Editor: The European Union requires the labeling of foods containing nanomaterials. What has been the position of the Food & Drug Administration and the EPA in the United States about food labeling?

Vernon: So far the FDA has taken the position that just because nanomaterials are smaller, they are not materially different from their larger counterparts, and therefore there have been no labeling requirements on food products. The FDA believes that their current standards for safety assessment are robust and flexible enough to handle a variety of different materials. That being said, the FDA has issued some guidelines for the food and cosmetic industries, but there has not been any requirement for food labeling as of now. The EPA has a nanotechnology division, which is also studying nanomaterials and their impact, but I haven’t seen anything that specifically requires a special registration process for nanomaterials.

Editor: What new regulations regarding nanotech products are expected? Should governmental regulations be adopted to prevent nanoparticles in foods and cosmetics from causing toxicity?

Vernon: The FDA has not telegraphed that any new regulations will be put into place. The agency is currently in the data collection stage to make sure that these materials are being safely delivered to people using current FDA standards – that materials are safe for human consumption or contact with humans. We won’t really understand whether or not regulations will be coming into place until we see data coming out that indicates that there are issues that are directly associated with nanomaterials. Rather than expecting regulations, I would suggest that we examine the data regarding nano products to optimize safe handling and use procedures.

Editor: Have there ever been any cases involving toxicity resulting from nano products?

Vernon: There are current investigations about the toxicity of carbon nano tubes, but the research is in its infancy. There is no evidence to show any potential harm from this technology. Unlike asbestos or silica exposure, the science is not there yet to demonstrate any toxicity link. The general understanding is that it may take decades for any potential harm to manifest. I believe my colleague, Patrick J. Comerford, head of McCarter’s product liability team in Boston, summarizes the situation well by noting that “if any supportable science was available, plaintiff’s bar would have already made this a high-profile target.”

Editor: While some biotech cases have failed the test of patentability before the courts, such as the case of Mayo v. Prometheus, what standard has been set forth for a biotech process to pass the test for patentability?

Vernon: There is no specified bright-line test for determining if a biotech process is patentable. But what the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has done is to issue some new examination guidelines with respect to the Mayo decision that help examiners figure out whether a biotech process is patent eligible. Specifically, the guidelines look to see if the biotech process (i.e., a process incorporating a law of nature) also includes at least one additional element or step. That additional element needs to be significant and not just a mental or correlation step. If a biotech process patent claim includes this significant additional step, there still needs to be a determination if the process is novel and non-obvious over the prior art. So while this might not be a bright-line test to help us figure out whether a biotech process is patentable, it at least gives us some direction about what the examiners are looking for in the patent claims.

Editor: What effect do you think the new America Invents Act will have in encouraging biotech companies to file early in the first stages of product development? Might that not run the risk that the courts could deny patentability as in the Ariad case where functional results of a process were described rather than the specific invention?

Vernon: The AIA goes into effect next month. What companies, especially biotech companies, need to do is file early. Companies need to submit applications supported by their research to include both a written description and enablement of the invention. Companies will need to be more focused on making sure that they are not only inventing in a timely manner but are also involving their patent counsel in planned and well-thought-out experiments to make sure that the supporting information is available in a timely fashion for patenting.

Editor: Have there been any recent cases relating to biotechnology or nanotechnology that our readers should be informed about?

Vernon: The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in April in the Myriad case. This case involves the BRCA gene, the breast cancer gene – and the issue is whether isolating a portion of a gene is patentable. While I am not a biotechnologist, I think this case will also impact nanotechnology as a whole. Applying for a patent on a portion of a gene is not too far distant from applying for a patent on a nanoparticle of a material that already exists but which has different properties from the original, larger-counterpart material. Would this nanosize material be patentable? This will be an important case to see what guidance the Supreme Court delivers this coming term.

Editor: Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Vernon: I think the next couple of years for nanotech will be very interesting. As I mentioned, I did my PhD thesis in the nanotechnology area a few years ago. My studies, like those of many other students, were funded in part with government grants. There is a great deal of government money being poured into nanotechnology. In the next ten years we will start seeing more and more of this research being commercialized and adopted into our lives. To keep current of developments, readers can visit www.nano.gov.

The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel
The Leading Resource For Corporate Counsel

As a leading publication in the corporate counsel community, MCC offers unique editorial content covering legal, regulatory, legislative and business developments, featuring original articles and interviews from experts at prestigious law firms, bar associations, accounting firms and legal service providers, as well as educators, business executives and high-level state, national and international officials.

 

Breaking the Space Charge Limit in Organic Solar Cells: Why It Matters

Why It Matters – “Most importantly, the plasmonic-electrical concept will open up a new way to manipulate both optical and electrical properties of semiconductor devices simultaneously.”

” … Understanding the SCL (space charge limit) effect is important to manipulate transport, recombination, and extraction of photocarriers, which will significantly affect the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of OSCs. (Organic Solar Cells)”

As a fundamental electrostatic limit, space charge limit (SCL) for photocurrent is a universal phenomenon and of paramount importance for organic semiconductors with unbalanced photocarriers mobility and high exciton generation. Here we proposed a new plasmonic-electrical concept to manipulate electrical properties of organic devices including photocarriers recombination, transport and collection.

 

As a proof-of-concept, organic solar cells (OSCs) comprising metallic planar and grating electrodes are systematically investigated with normal and inverted device structures. Interestingly, although strong plasmonic resonances induce abnormally dense photocarriers around a grating anode, the grating-inverted OSC is exempt from space charge accumulation (limit) and degradation of electrical properties in contrast to the planar-inverted and planar-normal ones.

The particular reason is that plasmonically induced photocarriers redistribution shortens the transport path of low-mobility holes, which are collected by the grating anode. The work demonstrated and explained the SCL breaking with the plasmonic-electrical effect. Most importantly, the plasmonic-electrical concept will open up a new way to manipulate both optical and electrical properties of semiconductor devices simultaneously.

This work is supported by the General Research Fund (grants: HKU711813 and HKU711612E), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)/Research Grants Council (RGC) grant (N_HKU709/12) and Ministry of Education (MOE)/Research Grants Council (RGC) (M-HKU703/12) from RGC of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. This project is also supported in part by Collaborated Research Fund (CUHK1/CRF/12G) of RGC, NSFC grant (No. 61201122), and UGC of Hong Kong (No. AoE/P-04/08).

Abstract ** The complete referenced article is available here online at:

http://www.nature.com/srep/2014/140829/srep06236/full/srep06236.html

The space charge limit (SCL) effect is a universal phenomenon in semiconductor devices involving light emitting diodes, solar cells, and photodetectors^{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}. It also sets a fundamental electrostatic limit in electrical properties of organic semiconductor devices with unbalanced photocarriers (electrons and holes) mobility and high exciton generation efficiency^{10, 11, 12, 13, 14}. With the interesting features of low cost, low-temperature fabrication, semi-transparency, and mechanical flexibility, organic solar cell (OSC) is currently one of emerging optoelectronic devices and shows a bright outlook for green energy industry^{12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18}. Understanding the SCL effect is important to manipulate transport, recombination, and extraction of photocarriers, which will significantly affect the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of OSCs.

 

 

Typically, the occurrence of SCL⁴ satisfies the following conditions: (1) unbalanced hole and electron mobility; (2) thick active layer; (3) high light intensity or dense photocarriers (electrons and holes) generation; and (4) moderate reverse bias. Compared to electron mobility, a low mobility of holes typically occurs in organic semiconductor devices depending on fabrication procedures^{19, 20, 21, 22} e.g. thermal annealing, solvent annealing, etc; and even occurs in the OSCs with robust active materials such as the polymer blend of poly(3-hexylthiophene):[6,6]-phenyl-C₆₁-butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT:PCBM). To investigate SCL characteristics, the inverted OSC with a planar multilayered structure is taken as a representative example. In the planar-inverted OSCs, photocarriers will be generated at the region close to the transparent cathode, such as indium tin oxide (ITO), where incident light will first penetrate. The photogenerated holes with a low mobility will have to transport through the whole active layer, and finally reach the anode (see Figure 1(a)). SCL will occur if the length of active layer is longer than the mean drift length of holes, which is very short because of the low mobility. Meanwhile, holes pile up inside the device to a greater degree than electrons. In other words, positive space charges are accumulated due to the unbalanced photocarriers mobility and a long transport path of holes. As a result, the short-circuit current and fill factor of OSCs will drop significantly due to both the bulk recombination and space charge formation^{4, 7, 9, 23, 24}. In this work, we will demonstrate the SCL breaking in the OSCs incorporating metallic (Ag or Au) nanostructures, which offers a novel route to eliminate the SCL effect in semiconductor devices.

(For the complete article see this link)

http://www.nature.com/srep/2014/140829/srep06236/full/srep06236.html

“Genesis Nanotechnology – Great Things from Small Things”

Rainfall: Dow’s Celebration of Water

Published on Jul 28, 2014

 

 

Storm clouds gather. Skies darken. A storm is unleashed and rain falls. So goes the water cycle, condensing moisture from all forms into the pure and wonderful process called rainfall. At Dow we cherish and celebrate rainfall and all forms of water. And where others see only storm clouds, we see hope and opportunity. It’s water, and it’s an essential ingredient of our planet’s sustainability, and for human progress. Visit us at http://www.dowwaterandprocess.com

“Genesis Nanotechnology – Great Things from Small Things!”

NIST Study: Why Quantum Dots Suffer from Fluorescence Intermittency

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), working in collaboration with the Naval Research Laboratory, have found that a particular species of quantum dots that weren’t commonly thought to blink, do.

So what? Well, although the blinks are short—on the order of nanoseconds to milliseconds—even brief fluctuations can result in efficiency losses that could cause trouble for using quantum dots to generate photons that move information around inside a quantum computer or between nodes of a future high-security internet based on quantum telecommunications.

Beyond demonstrating that the dots are blinking, the team also suggests a possible culprit.

Scientists have regarded indium arsenide and gallium arsenide (InAs/GaAs) quantum dots to be promising as single photon sources foruse in different future computing and communication systems based on quantum technologies. Compared to other systems, researchers have preferred these quantum dots because they appeared to not blink and because they can be fabricated directly into the types of semiconductor optoelectronics that have been developing over the past few decades.

The NIST research team also thought these quantum dots were emitting steady light perfectly, until they came upon one that was obviously blinking (or was “fluorescently intermittent,” in technical terms). They decided to see if they could find others that were blinking in a less obvious way.

While most previous experiments surveyed the dots in bulk, the team tested these dots as they would be used in an actual device. Using an extremely sensitive photon autocorrelation technique to uncover subtle signatures of blinking, they found that the dots blink over timescales rangingfrom tens of nanoseconds to hundreds of milliseconds. Their results suggest that building photonic structures around the quantum dots—something you’d have to do to make many applications viable—may make them significantly less stable as a light source.

“Most of the previous experimental studies of blinking inInAs/GaAs quantum dots looked at their behavior after the dots have been grown but before the surrounding devices have been fabricated,” says Kartik Srinivasan, one of the authors of the study. “However, there is no guarantee that a quantum dot will remain non-blinking after the nanofabrication of a surrounding structure, which introduces surfaces and potential defects within 100 nanometers of the quantum dot. We estimate the radiative efficiency of the quantum dots to be between about 50 and 80 percent after the photonic structures are fabricated, significantly less than the 100 percent efficiency that future applications will require.”

According to Marcelo Davanço, another author of the study, future work will focus on measuring dots both before and after device fabrication to better assess whether the fabrication is indeed a source of the defects thought to cause the blinking. Ultimately, the authors hope to understand what types of device geometries will avoid blinking while still efficiently funneling the emitted photons into a useful transmission channel, such as an optical fiber.

The NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) is a national nanotechnology user facility that enables innovation by providing rapid access to the tools needed to make and measure nanostructures. Researchers interested in accessing the techniques described here or in collaborating on their future development should contact Kartik Srinivasan.

Explore further: Quantum dots provide complete control of photons

More information: M. Davanço, C. Stephen Hellberg, S. Ates, A. Badolato and K. Srinivasan. “Multiple time scale blinking in InAs quantum dot single-photon sources.” Phys. Rev. B 89, 161303(R) – Published 16 April 2014.

Provided by National Institute of Standards and Technology

 

 

How Graphene Desalination Could Solve Our Planet’s Water Supply Problems: Video

Published on Jul 2, 2014 The Zero Line with Dr. Kent Moors
How Graphene could Increase Water Supplies for The Poorest Countries

 

More than 780 million people in the world need clean water. The desalination process has been a huge roadblock to solving this global water crisis — until now. Graphene Desalination is going to change the world for good.

Given most of earth is water & just 2.5% of that is fresh, this miracle material could have just unlocked our most abundant water source. That’s right. Up to now, the earths oceans have served very little in terms of drinking water. Now, graphene could make water scarcity a thing of the past. For the poorest countries & the most well-off, graphene could completely change the way we live.

What is Graphene Desalination & How could it Increase Water Supplies?

Graphene Desalination to Increase Water Supplies

Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms that are bonded in a repeating pattern of hexagons like the image above. Graphene is approximately 1,000,000 times thinner than paper; so thin that it is actually considered two dimensional.

Graphene’s flat honeycomb pattern grants it many unusual characteristics, including the status of strongest material in the world.

Graphene’s mesh is so fine, it can be used to filter out the smallest particles. In this case, graphene would be used as a desalination filter. Because it’s so strong & resiliant tearing, it would serve as the worlds strongest, finest desalination filter with the durability to withstand massive ammounts of water pressure.

See (Video) how a defense company made a major breakthrough in water filtration using the miracle material of grapheme … “Genesis Nanotechnology … Great Things from Small Things!”