Posted: January 18, 2008

STAR grantee develops potentially inexpensive nanotube solar
technology

(Nanowerk News) Somenath Mitra, along with researchers at the New
Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), has developed a potentially
cheap solar technology which can be painted or printed on flexible
plastic sheets. The benefits could be enormous to the consumer,
producer, and the environment. And while it may seem like something
out of science fiction, it's quickly becoming a reality. According to
Mitra it's actually a relatively simple process.

Dr. Mitra is a former STAR (EPA's 'Science to Achieve Results' grant
program) grantee who has an extensive background dealing in
nanotechnology. As a STAR researcher Mitra worked to develop sensing
systems that drew heavily on the nanoscale properties of carbon
nanotubes. This project led to better understanding of carbon nanotube
self-assembly and function. He has now worked to bring carbon
nanotubes into the world of solar technology. Solar technology, along
with most forms of renewable energy, requires expensive and energy-
intensive infrastructure. Mitra's technology, however, diverges from
standard photovoltaic cells which are silicon-based. Instead it
creates organic solar cells from polymers, a simpler and more
affordable alternative.

When sunlight hits these organic solar cells positive and negative
charges are created. The cell, as Mitra and his team at NJIT designed
it, is able to separate these charges to create a current. It contains
carbon nanotube complexes as well as another type of carbon molecule
called a fullerene. When the sunlight hits the polymer the fullerenes
are able to grab the excited electrons and the nanotubes conduct them,
thus creating a sustained current. The technology has endless
possibilities once you realize that the nanotubes can be turned into a
paint. "Once you develop a paint," Mitra says, "you can make a large
area into a solar panel very easily." This will be applicable to the
exterior wall of a building, a rooftop, or even a car. Mitra goes on,
"Imagine some day driving in your hybrid car with a solar panel
painted on the roof, which is producing electricity to drive the
engine." The cells are simple, inexpensive to make, and incredibly
energy-efficient. The technology is still in its developmental phases
and far from the market. But it is an extremely promising and hopeful
direction for renewable energy.
Source: EPA

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