Transparent Luminescent Solar Concentrators Using Ln(3+)-Based Ionosilicas Towards Photovoltaic Windows

abstract

The integration of photovoltaic (PV) elements in urban environments is gaining visibility due to the current interest in developing energetically self-sustainable buildings. Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) may be seen as a solution to convert urban elements, such as facades and windows, into energy-generation units for zero-energy buildings. Moreover, LSCs are able to reduce the mismatch between the AM1.5G spectrum and the PV cells absorption. In this work, we report optically active coatings for LSCs based on lanthanide ions (Ln(3+) = Eu3+, Tb3+)-doped surface functionalized ionosilicas (ISs) embedded in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). These new visible-emitting films exhibit large Stokes-shift, enabling the production of transparent coatings with negligible self-absorption and large molar extinction coefficient and brightness values (2 x 10(5) and 10(4) M-1.cm(-1), respectively) analogous to that of orange/red-emitting organic dyes. LSCs showed great potential for efficient and environmentally resistant devices, with optical conversion efficiency values of 0.27% and 0.34%, respectively.

keywords

NOISE BARRIER; PERFORMANCE; EFFICIENCY; FILMS; PHOTOLUMINESCENCE; COMPLEXES; POLYMERS; SPECTRA; LIGAND; CELLS

subject category

Energy & Fuels

authors

Frias, AR; Cardoso, MA; Bastos, ARN; Correia, SFH; Andre, PS; Carlos, LD; Bermudez, VD; Ferreira, RAS

our authors

acknowledgements

Funding was provided by Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT), EU/FEDER COMPETE and Mais Centro-PORC, under contracts PEST-OE/EEI/LA0008/2019 and CENTRO-07-ST24-FEDER-002032. This work was developed within the scope of the projects CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007679 (FCT Ref. UID/CTM/50011/2013), SusPhotoSolutions - Solucoes Fotovoltaicas Sustentaveis, CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-000005, Solar-Flex, CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-030186, Instituto de Telecomunicacoes (FCT Ref. UID/EEA/50008/2013) and LUMECD (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016884 and PTDC/CTM-NAN/0956/2014), financed by national funds through the FCT/MEC and when appropriate co-financed by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement. ARF and MC acknowledge FCT for their PhD grants (PD/BD/114454/2016 and SFRH/BD/118466/2016, respectively). SFHC thanks SusPhotoSolutions and ARB thanks NanoHeatControl (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031469) for their post-doctoral grants.

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