Low-Loss, High-Transparency Luminescent Solar Concentrators with a Bioinspired Self-Cleaning Surface

• Published in: The journal of physical chemistry letters Vol. 13; no. 39; pp. 9177 - 9185
• Main Authors: Li, Xueyang, Qi, Ji, Zhu, Jingyi, Jia, Yuxi, Liu, Yuan, Li, Yanrui, Liu, Hao, Li, Gang, Wu, Kaifeng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society 06.10.2022
• Subjects: Physical Insights into Energy Science
• ISSN: 1948-7185; 1948-7185
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c02666

Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) have emerged as a disruptive technology that can potentially enable carbon-neutral buildings. The issues with current LSCs, however, are low optical efficiencies and limited long-term outdoor stability. Here we simultaneously address them by developing an LSC with aggregation-induced-emission (AIE) molecules embedded in a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix. The AIE-emitter displayed a near unity emission quantum yield when embedded in the PDMS and the apparent absorption-emission Stokes shift reached 0.59 eV, effectively suppressing the reabsorption loss of waveguided photons inside an LSC. Moreover, the surface texture of the PDMS matrix was engineered using a bioinspired nanolithography method with a natural lotus leaf as the template. This allowed the fabricated AIE-PDMS LSC to inherit the superhydrophobic, self-cleaning properties of the leaf and meanwhile to possess a light-trapping capability. Our 100 cm2 LSC, when coupled with commercial Si PVs, delivered efficient solar power conversion, high visible transmittance, and high working stability.