Organic photovoltaics (OPVs), in contrast to conventional silicon-based solar cells, have the potential to be mass produced at much lower costs through simple methods like spin coating and inkjet printing. However, OPVs exhibit lower efficiencies than conventional cells. Present high-efficiency OPV devices utilize fullerene derivatives as the electron accepting and transport material, which give good performance but have many drawbacks including high cost, narrow light absorption, environmental instability, and poor processability. Our summer research is to improve the performance of polymer photovoltaics through replacement of the current standard fullerene electron acceptor material (PCBM) with new electron accepting materials, di-perylene bisimides (di-PBIs).The research completed will be transformed into a lesson plan for students in the polymers and robotics classrooms.Students will be asked to consider U.S. energy demands, and also to consider how we get this energy today and how we will meet our increasing needs in future.Focusing on solar energy, students will visit a local solar panel company to see how traditional solar cells are manufactured.After contemplating the need for solar power and the limitations of traditional cells, students will make their own organic solar cells, and then they will visit the polymer labs at USM to see how the OPVs were developed and tested.As a culminating activity, students will write our state congressmen to entreat them to continue funding research into alternative energies for Mississippi — especially as it pertains to creating better OPV technologies.

Synthesis and characterization of di(perylene bisimides) for use as an electron accepting material in polymer photovoltaic devices

253rd National Meeting (2017)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.