Herein we realize an optical design that optimizes the performance of bifacial solar cells without modifying any of the usually employed components. In order to do so, dielectric scatterers of controlled size and shape have been successfully integrated in the working electrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), resulting in bifacial devices of outstanding performance. Power…
Herein, we present a prototype of a photovoltaic module that combines a luminescent solar concentrator integrating one-dimensional photonic crystals and in-plane CuInGaSe2 (CIGS) solar cells. Highly uniform and wide-area nanostructured multilayers with photonic crystal properties were deposited by a cost-efficient and scalable liquid processing amenable to large-scale fabrication. Their role is to both maximize light…
A synthetic route is demonstrated to build purely polymeric nanostructured multilayer coatings, adaptable to arbitrary surfaces, and capable of efficiently blocking by reflection a targeted and tunable ultraviolet (UV) range. Reflection properties are determined by optical interference between UV light beams reflected at the interfaces between polystyrene layers of different porosity and hence refractive index.…
Preparation of well-interconnected TiO2 electrodes at low temperature is critical for the fabrication of highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) on plastic substrates. Herein we explore a synergistic approach using a combination of chemical and physical sintering. We formulate a binder-free TiO2 paste based on “nanoglue” as the chemical sintering agent, and use it to…
A hybrid nanostructured organic–inorganic biocompatible film capable of efficiently blocking a preselected range of ultraviolet light is designed to match the genotoxic action spectrum of human epithelial cells. This stack protects cultured human skin cells from UV-induced DNA lesions. As the shielding mechanism relies exclusively on reflection, the secondary effects due to absorption harmful radiation are…
We report on the numerical analysis of solar absorption enhancement in organic-inorganic halide perovskite films embedding plasmonic gold nanoparticles. The effect of particle size and concentration is analyzed in realistic systems in which random particle location within the perovskite film and the eventual formation of dimers are also taken into account. We find a maximum…
Deterministic control on the dynamics of organic nanoemitters is achieved through precise control of its photonic environment. Resonators are fabricated by a combination of spin- and dip-coating techniques, which allows placement of the emitters at different positions within the sample, thus acting as a probe of the local density of states.
The photophysical properties of films of organic-inorganic lead halide perovskites under different ambient conditions are herein reported. We demonstrate that their luminescent properties are determined by the interplay between photoinduced activation and darkening processes, which strongly depend on the atmosphere surrounding the samples. We have isolated oxygen and moisture as the key elements in each…
In this article, we report how Janus particles, composed of a silica sphere with a gold half-shell, can be not only stably trapped by optical tweezers but also displaced controllably along the axis of the laser beam through a complex interplay between optical and thermal forces. Scattering forces orient the asymmetric particle, while strong absorption…
