Excitons Need Space to Separate: Free Carrier Production in Organic Solar Cells

New investigations have produced a simpler model to elegantly explain previously observed behaviors for free carrier generation in organic solar cells. The model relies on well-established scientific descriptors, Marcus theory and entropy. Previous descriptions proposed new physical phenomena, but a new, simplified model provides a unified platform for understanding processes in both solution and solid-phase systems for organic photochemical conversion.

The strategic position: How molecules sit on surfaces drives energy and electron transfer

Florida State University researchers seeking to make newer, more energy efficient materials have made a breakthrough in understanding how structure dictates electron transfer across surfaces. It all has to do with how the molecules are positioned. Ken Hanson, associate professor of chemistry, and his colleagues found that the way molecules assemble on an inorganic material plays a key role in how energy and electrical current move across these interfaces, thus driving the functionality.