美國麻省理工學(xué)院的研究人員日前成功利用病毒提高太陽能電池能量轉(zhuǎn)化效率,，該技術(shù)有望應(yīng)用于太陽能電池生產(chǎn),。研究報(bào)告發(fā)表在新一期的《自然—納米技術(shù)》上,。
碳納米管一直是科學(xué)家試圖應(yīng)用于太陽能電池的理想材料,，它可以提高電池的電子收集效率,，但碳納米管容易發(fā)生團(tuán)簇,、導(dǎo)電性不均勻,，這又使得碳納米管的效果反而降低,。
科學(xué)家在這項(xiàng)研究中注意到，一種被稱為M13的轉(zhuǎn)基因病毒可用于控制碳納米管的排列,，讓碳納米管變得分散,、不會團(tuán)簇在一起,，從而避免電流因?yàn)樘技{米管而發(fā)生短路。他們將這種病毒加入染料敏化太陽能電池中進(jìn)行測試,，發(fā)現(xiàn)電池能量轉(zhuǎn)化率從8%提高到10.6%——這樣的變化是很顯著的,。
通過進(jìn)一步研究，科學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)M13病毒可以產(chǎn)生出二氧化鈦涂層并包裹在每根碳納米管表面——而二氧化鈦又是染料敏化太陽能電池的一種關(guān)鍵成分,，且M13具有的縮氨酸可固定碳納米管的空間位置,，保持其分散性。正是以上兩點(diǎn)提升了染料敏化太陽能電池的光電轉(zhuǎn)化率,。
研究人員表示在未來的研究中,，電池的能量轉(zhuǎn)化率還能得到進(jìn)一步提高，并且由于加入M13病毒的步驟很簡單,，該技術(shù)的產(chǎn)業(yè)化可以很快實(shí)現(xiàn),。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原文出處：
doi:10.1038/nnano.2011.50
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PMID:
Virus-templated self-assembled single-walled carbon nanotubes for highly efficient electron collection in photovoltaic devices
Xiangnan Dang,1, 2, 5 Hyunjung Yi,1, 2, 5 Moon-Ho Ham,3 Jifa Qi,1, 2 Dong Soo Yun,1, 2 Rebecca Ladewski,2, 3 Michael S. Strano,3 Paula T. Hammond2, 3 & Angela M. Belcher1, 2, 4
The performance of photovoltaic devices could be improved by using rationally designed nanocomposites with high electron mobility to efficiently collect photo-generated electrons. Single-walled carbon nanotubes exhibit very high electron mobility, but the incorporation of such nanotubes into nanocomposites to create efficient photovoltaic devices is challenging. Here, we report the synthesis of single-walled carbon nanotube–TiO2 nanocrystal core–shell nanocomposites using a genetically engineered M13 virus as a template. By using the nanocomposites as photoanodes in dye-sensitized solar cells, we demonstrate that even small fractions of nanotubes improve the power conversion efficiency by increasing the electron collection efficiency. We also show that both the electronic type and degree of bundling of the nanotubes in the nanotube/TiO2 complex are critical factors in determining device performance. With our approach, we achieve a power conversion efficiency in the dye-sensitized solar cells of 10.6%.
