Posted on 12/28/2011 1:22:04 PM PST by bananaman22
Researchers have reduced the preparation time of quantum dot solar cells to less than an hour by changing the form to a one-coat quantum dot solar paint.
How?
Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles are coated with cadmium sulfide (CdS) or cadmium selenide (CdSe.) The composite nanoparticles, when mixed with a solvent, form a paste that can be applied as one-step paint to a transparent conducting material, which creates electricity when exposed to light.
Although the paint form is currently about five times less efficient than the highest recorded efficiency for the multifilm form, the researchers predict that its efficiency can be improved, which could lead to a simple and economically viable way to prepare solar cells.
The scientists responsible for the research breakthrough, Mathew P. Genovese of the University of Waterloo in Canada, with Ian V. Lightcap and Prashant V. Kamat of the Radiation Laboratory and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, will be publishing their study in an upcoming issue of the American Chemical Societys publication Nano.
During an interview with PhysOrg.com Professor Kamat, John A. Zahm Professor of Science in Chemistry and Biochemistry and an investigator in Notre Dames Center for Nano Science and Technology (NDnano) and who led the research, explained, Quantum dots are semiconductor nanocrystals which exhibit size-dependent optical and electronic properties. In a quantum dot sensitized solar cell, the excitation of semiconductor quantum dot or semiconductor nanocrystal is followed by electron injection into TiO2 nanoparticles. These electrons are then transferred to the collecting electrode surface to generate photocurrent.
The holes that remain in the semiconductor quantum dot are Full article at: Solar Breakthrough: Cheap Quantum Dot Solar Paint
If I use quantum paint does that mean if I wait until tomorrow to paint my house it will show up painted today?
the paint form is currently about five times less efficient than the highest recorded efficiency for the multifilm form
No. It means that no matter when you paint it, you can never really be sure you did.
Sherman Williams tried to sell me this stuff today....$2,000 per gallon. Payback was some time after my great great grandchild would hit 65. /s
>>No. It means that no matter when you paint it, you can never really be sure you did.<<
A just as I suspected — Quanta=Whiskey!
It means you’ve already painted, are currently painting it, and will paint it in at infinite amount of colors with your wife nagging you infinitely because it never seems to get done.
No, but if you paint your car and run over a cat, the cat remains alive just as long as you don’t look at it.
Depends upon whether the “cheap” aspect holds up in comparison, doesn’t it?
If it’s 10X less costly, then 5X less efficient won’t be all that big a concern. The price to power a well pump, hot water heater, heatpump or a whole house would still be cut in half compared to multifilm if that were the case. Well, less inverters, etcetera which may or may not be equivalent.
It means you may have painted it, or you may be going to paint it, but whether you did/do or not, you can/will never be certain if you did/do—but you can always ask your cat.
...another “not quite useful” solar product that requires a few trillion more in taxpayer funding!
I am actually hopeful about some sort of cheap solar power. It’s my best shot at getting off the grid and I suspect it is for most of us who want to have a lot less to do with power companies. This could be cool.
Just make the area 5 times larger...like on a huge solar farm.
Too bad cadmium is carcinogenic. The environmental regulatory costs of using cadmium sulfate instead of TiO2 may well offset the other savings.
LOL. That’s pretty good.
LOL. That’s pretty good.
LOL. That’s pretty good.
But it makes up for it in cost.
For about the same that it would cost you to paint your house, you could coat your house with this stuff and keep your house warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.
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