Polymer Based Nanocomposites for Solar Energy Conversion

Organic semiconductor-based photovoltaic devices offer the promise of low cost photovoltaic technology that can be manufactured via large-scale, roll-to-roll printing techniques. Existing organic photovoltaic devices are currently limited to solar power conversion efficiencies of 3?5%. This is because of poor overlap between the absorption spectrum of the organic chromophores and the solarspectrum, non-ideal band alignment between the donor and acceptor species, and low charge carrier mobilities. To address these issues, we are investigating the development of dendrimeric organic semiconductors that are readily synthesized with high purity. They also benefit from optoelectronic properties, such as band gap and band positions, which can be easily tuned by substituting differentchemical groups into the molecule. Additionally, we are developing nanostructured oxide/conjugated polymer composite photovoltaics. These composites take advantage of the high electron mobilities attainable in oxide semiconductors and can be fabricated using low-temperature solution-based growth techniques. Here, we discuss the synthesis and preliminary device results of these novel materialsand composites.