A study demonstrating a 63.4% increment in output power density for dye-sensitized photovoltaics (DSPV) with artificial indoor light, conducted by the research team led by Professor Jae-Joon Lee from the Department of Energy and Materials Engineering at Dongguk University, was selected as the cover article for Solar RRL, a prestigious journal that publishes high-quality research articles in the Wiley Online Library.
Professor Jae-Joon Lee, who is the corresponding author, was accompanied by Dr. Ashok Kumar, Dr. Hyeong Cheol Kang, Dr. Francis Asiam, and Dr. Kicheon Yoo in synthesizing the nanophosphor SrF2:Pr3+-Yb3+ by codoping praseodymium (Pr, atomic number 59) and ytterbium (Yb, atomic number 70) with SrF2 and lanthanum nanoparticles for the first time. This nanophosphor was incorporated in the photoanode and used as an induction material for down-conversion.
Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC), a next-generation solar cell, is gaining considerable traction as an alternative to the currently popular silicon solar cells due to its inexpensive materials, simple manufacturing process, and excellent performance (photoelectric conversion efficiency of 13%).
Recently, there is a growing expectation for DSPVs that can be operated under indoor and artificial light conditions to open up a new path to energy self-sufficiency of wearables and portable smart electronics with its high performance and applicability. However, its low photoelectric conversion rate is a serious limitation as the photon harvesting performance of the DSPV's photoanode is rather poor due to low light intensity from artificial indoor light conditions.
Therefore, the research team proposed to introduce SrF2:Pr3+-Yb3+, a nanophosphor that was synthesized for the first time, to the photoanode of the DSPV, and succeeded in increasing the output power density of the photoelectric cells to 63.4%. Thanks to this technique, it became possible to develop a source of energy for self-sustainable wearable devices, portable smart electronics, and IoT devices.
Professor Jae-Joon Lee said, “As this technique showed a high level of efficiency not only for DSSC but also under artificial indoor light conditions, it can be used for indoor devices”. He optimistically added, “I hope that this study can be useful to other studies that seek to develop self-powered IoT devices.”
This study was conducted with the support of Brain Pool programs (research on materials for photoelectric conversion-storage fusion devices operating on optimized light energy conversion) and Project for Climate Change Technology Development (development of organic-based solar cell source technology for urban distributed power generation) of the National Research Foundation of Korea.