New Class of Molecular Iodosalts for Use in Next Generation Solar Cells

Background: Intense research effort has been dedicated in recent years to replace fossil fuel and meet the increasing energy needs of modern society. The sun is an essentially inexhaustible source of renewable energy and so has motivated solar cell research in recent years. Photovoltaic research has been growing rapidly in search of developing inexpensive and environmentally friendly energy conversion and storage systems. Historically conventional solar cells have been expensive due to the complex fabrication procedures and high price of raw materials some of which also contain toxic elements. These obstacles have motivated a burgeoning field of research in solar technologies fabricated from fundamentally low-cost mainly organic materials employing inexpensive fabrication methods. Technology Description: Northwestern University researchers have developed a lead-free alternative to materials currently used in photovoltaic cells. In addition this new material is very stable which will facilitate processing and lower initial investments in manufacturing. These advances could lead to a sea change in the field of solar devices and enable their large-scale production and commercialization. Applications: Solar cell production