The Next World-Changing Supermaterial Is Grown, Not Made. Graphene electrodes for organic solar cells. A promising approach for making solar cells that are inexpensive, lightweight and flexible is to use organic (that is, carbon-containing) compounds instead of expensive, highly purified silicon. But one stubborn problem has slowed the development of such cells: Researchers have had a hard time coming up with appropriate materials for the electrodes to carry the current to and from the cells. Specifically, it has been hard to make electrodes using materials that can match the organic cells’ flexibility, transparency and low cost. The standard material used so far for these electrodes is indium-tin-oxide, or ITO.
But indium is expensive and relatively rare, so the search has been on for a suitable replacement. Now, a team of MIT researchers has come up with a practical way of using a possible substitute made from inexpensive and ubiquitous carbon. 3D graphene: Solar cells' new platinum? One of the most promising types of solar cells has a few drawbacks. A scientist at Michigan Technological University may have overcome one of them. Dye-sensitized solar cells are thin, flexible, easy to make and very good at turning sunshine into electricity. However, a key ingredient is one of the most expensive metals on the planet: platinum. While only small amounts are needed, at $1,500 an ounce, the cost of the silvery metal is still significant. Yun Hang Hu, the Charles and Caroll McArthur Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, has developed a new, inexpensive material that could replace the platinum in solar cells without degrading their efficiency: 3D graphene.
Regular graphene is a famously two-dimensional form of carbon just a molecule or so thick. The researchers determined that the 3D honeycomb graphene had excellent conductivity and high catalytic activity, raising the possibility that it could be used for energy storage and conversion. Possible breakthrough using graphene for solar cells. Graphene was deposited onto a glass substrate. The ultrathin layer is only one atomic layer thick (0.3 Angström, or 0.03 nanometers), but charge carriers are able to move about freely within this layer. This property is retained even if the graphene layer is covered with amorphous or polycrystalline silicon. (Credit: Marc A. Gluba/HZB) Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) Institute for Silicon Photovoltaics have shown that graphene retains its impressive set of properties when it is coated with a thin silicon film.
These findings may allow for entirely new possibilities to use graphene in thin-film photovoltaics. Graphene has extreme conductivity and is completely transparent while being inexpensive and nontoxic. To test this possibility, the researchers grew graphene on a thin copper sheet, transferred it to a glass substrate, and coated it with a thin film of silicon. No forecasts of possible dates of commercial products are available. New Nature Physics Paper Shows That Graphene’s Unique Properties Could Be Used to Make Better Photovoltaic Devices. Researchers have demonstrated that graphene is highly efficient at generating electrons upon absorbing light, which suggests that the material could be used to make light sensors and perhaps even more efficient solar cells.
Conventional materials that turn light into electricity, like silicon and gallium arsenide, generate a single electron for each photon absorbed. Since a photon contains more energy than one electron can carry, much of the energy contained in the incoming light is lost as heat. Now, new research reveals that when graphene absorbs a photon it generates multiple electrons capable of driving a current. This means that if graphene devices for converting light to electricity come to fruition, they could be more efficient than the devices commonly used today.
Previous theoretical work had inspired hope that graphene had this property, says Frank Koppens, a group leader at the Institute of Photonic Sciences in Spain, who led the research. Super Thin Graphene Solar Panels Could Pave the Way for Powered Paint. Graphene Heats Up Race For Cheap Organic Solar Cells. Clean Power Published on January 1st, 2014 | by Tina Casey Does Robin Thicke’s notorious hit “Blurred Lines” contain secret references to graphene? We don’t know, but we are interrupting our New Year’s Day Walking Dead marathon to bring you news that graphene, the notoriously hard-to-handle nanomaterial of the new millennium, has been domesticated to the point where it could help drive down the cost of solar cells. Here’s the deal: a team of researchers at the A*STAR Institute of High Performance Computing in Singapore has calculated that with today’s graphene production technology, you can manufacture graphene electrodes that could almost match the efficiency of electrodes made from indium tin oxide (ITO) in organic solar cells.
The Graphene Road To Low Cost Solar Cells The search has been on for cheaper, more durable substitutes that would result in lower up-front costs for organic solar cells, plus the added bonus of a longer lifecycle. Solar Cells And Supply Security Stay tuned. Researchers plan to develop a 3D printer that prints graphene. 3D printers are becoming compatible with new materials all the time, including metals, paper, resin and even pizza ingredients. So it was only a matter of time before someone decided to pair the sci-fi-like machines with the most sci-fi material out there: graphene. Mining and technology development company American Graphite Technologies announced this week that partner researchers at the Kharkov Institute of Physics in in Ukraine received final approval to begin researching how to adapt 3D printers to print with graphene.
Graphene is a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon atoms with impressive physical characteristics. It is stronger than diamond and extremely conductive, which means it could have applications in electronics and solar panels, among other industries. The researchers will also study applications for other nano-scale varieties of carbon. 3D Printing with Graphene Is Coming, and It Will Power the Future.
Even on their own, 3D printing technology and the supermaterial graphene have the potential to bring about the next industrial revolution. So imagine if it were possible to 3D print objects using graphene? It's pretty mind-boggling. It’s already possible to make everything from guns to food to human body parts. If graphene proves workable as a 3D printable material, we could potentially add computers, solar panels, electronics, even cars and airplanes to the list.
Scientists are trying to find out if it's possible. New research into the properties of graphene as a material for 3D printing took a big step forward this month. That may not sound like much of an advancement, but every baby step toward 3D printing graphene has futurists quivering with anticipation. Graphene is like a material with heroic powers. A mounting crop of research shows what graphene could make possible. Now imagine all that printed from your living room.