Publication date: 10th April 2014
Upconversion in nanoparticles is a field of research that is rapidly gaining importance due to new areas of applications, viz. biomedical imaging and spectral conversion for solar cells. In this presentation new efficient upconversion materials will be discussed based on the well known Er3+-Yb3+ couple as well as the potential of other lanthanide ion combinations [1-3]. Upconversion of IR to NIR radiation has been widely explored for application in c-Si solar cells with a bandgap around 1100 nm. Even larger gains are possible in photovoltaic applications based on wider bandgap materials. For example, for a 750 nm large bandgap solar cell like amorphous Si, upconversion can increase the efficiency by more than 70% for a maximum UC quantum efficiency of 50% (see Figure 1). The potential of upconversion nanoparticles is related to the possibility to make transparent upconversion materials due to the absence of light scattering by nanoparticles of sizes well below the wavelength of light. A disadvantage is the lower efficiency of upconversion in nanoparticles. To understand the efficiency and efficiency losses, upconversion mechanism will be discussed, including modeling of energy transfer processes in confined (nano) geometries [4]. Finally the option of sensitized upconversion will be explored giving an outlook on the future applications of UC-nanoparticles for application in solar cells and bio-imaging.
Figure 1. Potential efficiency gain of down- and upconversion for an a-Si solar cell.
[1] J. de Wild, A. Meijerink, J. K. Rath, W. G. J. H. M. van Sark and R. E. I. Schropp Energy & Environmental Science 4, 4835--4848 (2011).
[2] R. Martín-Rodríguez, S. Fischer, A. Ivaturi, B. Froehlich, K. W. Krämer, J. C. Goldschmidt, B. S. Richards and A. Meijerink Chemistry of Materials 25, 1912--1921 (2013).
[3] R. Martín-Rodríguez and A. Meijerink Journal of Luminescence 147, 147 - 154 (2014).
[4] F.T. Rabouw, S.A. den Hartog, T. Senden, A. Meijerink, Nature Communications, in press
nanoGe is a prestigious brand of successful science conferences that are developed along the year in different areas of the world since 2009. Our worldwide conferences cover cutting-edge materials topics like perovskite solar cells, photovoltaics, optoelectronics, solar fuel conversion, surface science, catalysis and two-dimensional materials, among many others.
Previously nanoGe Spring Meeting (NSM) and nanoGe Fall Meeting (NFM), MATSUS is a multiple symposia conference focused on a broad set of topics of advanced materials preparation, their fundamental properties, and their applications, in fields such as renewable energy, photovoltaics, lighting, semiconductor quantum dots, 2-D materials synthesis, charge carriers dynamics, microscopy and spectroscopy semiconductors fundamentals, etc.
International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics
International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV) is celebrated yearly in May. The main topics are the development, function and modeling of materials and devices for hybrid and organic solar cells. The field is now dominated by perovskite solar cells but also other hybrid technologies, as organic solar cells, quantum dot solar cells, and dye-sensitized solar cells and their integration into devices for photoelectrochemical solar fuel production.
Asia-Pacific International Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics
The main topics of the Asia-Pacific International Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics (IPEROP) are discussed every year in Asia-Pacific for gathering the recent advances in the fields of material preparation, modeling and fabrication of perovskite and hybrid and organic materials. Photovoltaic devices are analyzed from fundamental physics and materials properties to a broad set of applications. The conference also covers the developments of perovskite optoelectronics, including light-emitting diodes, lasers, optical devices, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical properties, colloidal nanostructures, photophysics and light-matter coupling.
The International Conference on Perovskite Thin Film Photovoltaics Perovskite Photonics and Optoelectronics (NIPHO) is the best place to hear the latest developments in perovskite solar cells as well as on recent advances in the fields of perovskite light-emitting diodes, lasers, optical devices, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical properties, colloidal nanostructures, photophysics and light-matter coupling.