The Nano Sized Paint-On Solar Cells Capable of Generate Electricity

Imagine if the next coat of paint you put on the outside of your home generates electricity from light—electricity that can be used to power the appliances and equipment on the inside.

Mixtures using cadmium sulfide produced yellow paint, cadmium selenide produced dark brown, while a mixture of the two - which offered the best conversion efficiency - was light brown. (Picture from: http://www.gizmag.com/)

The research team of University of Notre Dame, United States, examined the paint that is able to generate electricity. "We wanted to do something transformative, moving beyond the technology of silicon-based solar cells that have been developed," said Prashant Kamat, professor of biochemistry at Notre Dame's Center for Nano Science and Technology (NDnano).

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles coated with cadmium sulfide produced a yellow paste that, when painted onto a transparent conductive material, generates electricity. (Picture from: http://www.gizmag.com/)

NDnano is one of the leading nanotechnology centers in the world. Its mission is to study and manipulate the properties of materials and devices, as well as their interfaces with living systems, at the nano-scale.

These paints use some sort of nano-sized semiconductor particles to produce electrical energy. Kamat said, by combining forces to produce nano particles called quantum dots into compounds that are scattered, he has made one coat "solar paint" that can be used on any conductive surface without special equipment.

Search for materials research team focused on producing electricity nano-sized titanium dioxide particles are coated cadmium sulfide or cadmium compounds selenide. Composite particles are then soaked in a mixture of water and alcohol to produce a kind of paste, and then used as paint.

When the paint is applied to the transparent conductive material, and then subjected to light, it will generate electricity. "The rate of change of light into electricity efficiency by 1 percent. The figure is still far behind the level etoensi made ​​from silicon solar cells, ie, 10-15 percent," says Kamat.

Nevertheless, the "solar paint" can be produced in large scale at low cost. "If we can find a way of improving its efficiency, we can make a huge difference in meeting future energy needs," says Kamat.

Therefore, Kamat and his team plan to study how to develop new electricity-producing material stability findings. Kamat and research fellows funded by the Department of Energy's Office of Basic Energy Sciences and published in the journal ACS Nano.

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