New Hybrid Material Pumps Up Solar Power

A new hybrid material could give solar energy the boost it needs to compete in the alternative energy lineup. According to researchers at Ohio State University, who published their work in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the new material behaves in a surprising, yet favorable way—it can absorb the entire spectrum of light emitted from the Sun, and it gives off electrons in a way that makes them easier to capture, and thus easier to convert into electricity.

The researchers developed this super-solar material, which combines conductive plastic with metals including molybdenum and titanium, with the help of a computer model. Once they identified a material with the best properties, they worked with National Taiwan University to synthesize these molecules.

The surprising, yet favorable behavior

The researchers say they were surprised by how the hybrid material responded to light. Instead of only fluorescing (like typical solar cells), these molecules fluoresced and phosphoresced. The cool thing about phosphorescence is that the ejected electrons hang around longer before falling back into the molecule than those generated through fluorescence. This gives the collector a little extra time to snag the electrons and convert them into electricity. While other materials are known to behave in this way, as far as the researchers know, this is the first time a material has been created that both absorbs the entire visible light spectrum and undergoes fluorescence/phosphorescence.

This is exciting news, but it's still in the lab. The researchers say that it will be years before the material is commercially available.