Photovoltaic devices having nanoparticle dipoles for enhanced performance and methods for making same

US7994421B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Voxtel, Inc. · US

Inventors

• George Williams · Portland, US
• David M. Schut · Philomath, US
• Andreas Stonas · Goleta, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Oct 30, 2008
• Grant date: Aug 9, 2011
• Expiry date: Dec 3, 2029

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10S977/813

Abstract

A photovoltaic device has nanoparticles sandwiched between a conductive substrate and a charge selective transport layer. Each of the nanoparticles has a ligand shell attached to the nanoparticle core. A first type of ligand is electron rich and attached to one hemisphere of the nanoparticle core, while a second type of ligand is electron poor and attached to an opposite hemisphere of the core. Consequently, the ligand shell induces an electric field within the nanoparticle, enhancing the photovoltaic effect. The arrangement of ligands types on different sides of the nanoparticle is obtained by a process involving ligand substitution after adhering the nanoparticles to the conductive substrate.