Effect of ligand length on energy transfer in solution-phase photon multiplication for solar energy harvesting

Our research aims to develop plastic films that change the colour of the light that passes through them, not by absorbing certain wavelengths of light, as a simple colour filter would, but by converting light of one wavelength to another without losing any energy. Such a film, applied to a silicon solar cell, could make it up to 30% more efficient. To do this we need to make semiconductor nanocrystals, and bring them into intimate contact with an organic semiconductor material. Small angle neutron scattering picks out the shapes of the nanoparticles, the way they interact each other, and the amount of material that coats them. This proposal focuses on the optimisation of the coating of the nanoparticle, studying how it affects the way energy is exchanged with the organic semiconductor molecules. Once optimised, we then we have to disperse these tiny nanoparticles in a clear plastic film.