Engineering a Robust Photovoltaic Device with Quantum Dots and Bacteriorhodopsin

نویسندگان

  • Venkatesan Renugopalakrishnan
  • Bernardo Barbiellini
  • Chris King
  • Michael Molinari
  • Konstantin Mochalov
  • Alyona Sukhanova
  • Igor Nabiev
  • Peter Fojan
  • Harry L. Tuller
  • Michael Chin
  • Ponisseril Somasundaran
  • Esteve Padrós
  • Seeram Ramakrishna
چکیده

We present a route toward a radical improvement in solar cell efficiency using resonant energy transfer and sensitization of semiconductor metal oxides with a light-harvesting quantum dot (QD)/bacteriorhodopsin (bR) layer designed by protein engineering. The specific aims of our approach are (1) controlled engineering of highly ordered bR/QD complexes; (2) replacement of the liquid electrolyte by a thin layer of gold; (3) highly oriented deposition of bR/QD complexes on a gold layer; and (4) use of the Forster resonance energy transfer coupling between bR and QDs to achieve an efficient absorbing layer for dye-sensitized solar cells. This proposed approach is based on the unique optical characteristics of QDs, on the photovoltaic properties of bR, and on state-of-the-art nanobioengineering technologies. It permits spatial and optical coupling together with control of hybrid material components on the bionanoscale. This method paves the way to the development of the solid-state photovoltaic device with the efficiency increased to practical levels.

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عنوان ژورنال:

دوره 118  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2014