Toward Graphene-Based Photovoltaics
Professor Liang-shi Li
Department of Chemistry
Indiana University, Bloomington
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Fung Auditorium
Abstract:
Solution-processable thin-film solar cells can be competitive with silicon-based ones in terms of electricity output/cost ratio and therefore have great potential in solar energy utilization. Due to the requirement for efficient light harvesting, however, so far the most successful low-cost thin-film solar cells require materials containing either rare or toxic metals. In my talk I will discuss our efforts in making graphene, which is primarily made of carbon, an active component for solar energy conversion. Our work is based on the synthesis of solution-processable colloidal graphene quantum dots with tunable size, bandgap, and redox potential. Our spectroscopic studies have shown that the graphene quantum dots have some unique electro-optical properties, which could potentially enable us to overcome the ShockleyQueisser limit imposed on single-junction solar cells.
Biosketch:
Liang-shi Li obtained his B.S. and M.S. degrees at the University of Science and Technology of China. After finishing his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley and postdoctoral training in Organic Chemistry at Northwestern University, he joined Indiana University as an assistant professor of Chemistry in 2006. He is interested in chemistry and physics of carbon-rich materials and their applications in renewable energy and neurosciences.