New RMIT-led research has replaced silicon on solar panelling with dye-sensitised solar cells to turn light energy into niobium pentoxide – an environmentally friendly metal-oxide that can improve panel efficiency by at least 30 per cent.
The Conversation reports that PhD student Jian Zhen Ou from RMIT led four other universities – from Australia, the US, and Korea – in the revolutionary study arising from a technique that is widely used in industries generating hard coatings and glazed surfaces – but rarely used for this application.
“Here, we demonstrate that niobium pentoxide (Nb2O5) is an ideal candidate for increasing the efficiencies of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs),” says an abstract to the study, published in the latest edition of the ACS Nano journal. “The key lies in developing a Nb2O5 crisscross nanoporous network, using our unique elevated temperature anodization process.”
The team ascribe the “exceptionally large photoconversion efficiencies” to a combination of reduced electron scattering, greater surface area, wider band gap, and higher conduction band edge, as well as longer effective electron lifetimes.
To read more about it, click here.
UK developer and local council sign community benefit deals for two projects stuck in limbo…
A record amount of large-scale renewable generation has reached financial close, the federal government says,…
China's Envision lines up its first wind and battery deal at a new energy park…
Final all-clear for huge wind and battery project comes just in the nick of time,…
The Albanese government is making great strides on clean energy, while at the same time…
Slow grind of getting commercial, industrial businesses off gas is accelerating, a new report says.