Suppose if the next coat of paint you put on the outside of
your home generates electricity from light -- electricity that can be used to
power the appliances and equipment on the inside.
A team of researchers at the University of Notre Dame has
made a major advance toward this vision by creating an inexpensive material
that uses semiconducting nanoparticles to produce energy.
By incorporating power-producing nanoparticles, called
quantum dots, into a spreadable compound, a one-coat solar paint was produced
that can be applied to any conductive surface without special equipment.
The team's search for the new material, described in the
journal ACS Nano, centered on nano-sized particles of titanium
dioxide, which were coated with either cadmium sulfide or cadmium selenide. The
particles were then suspended in a water-alcohol mixture to create a paste. When
the paste was brushed onto a transparent conducting material and exposed to
light, it created electricity.
The best light-to-energy conversion efficiency achieved by
this is 1 percent, which is well behind the usual 10 to 15 percent efficiency
of commercial silicon solar cells; but this paint can be made cheaply and in
large quantities. If efficiency can be improved, it would be worthwhile to use
in day-today activities.
No comments:
Post a Comment