7 research outputs found
Texture of the Viola Flower for Light Harvesting in Photovoltaics
Nature’s
evolution provides a multitude of answers to scientific
and key technological challenges such as the light harvesting. In
this work, we investigate the optical properties of the unique texture
of viola petals for the purpose of improved light harvesting in photovoltaics.
We find that crystalline silicon solar cells encapsulated with a transparent
coating show a 6% improvement in power conversion efficiency if the
viola petal texture is replicated onto the front surface. This gain
is based on a broadband enhancement in current generation that originates
from the exceptional optical properties of the viola surface texture,
combining micro- and nanotexture. The microcones of this hierarchical
texture demonstrate strong and broadband light incoupling effects
as well as retro-reflection capabilities, and the nanowrinkles further
decrease the reflection losses. Using rigorous optical simulation,
we analyze and explain the working principle ruling the light harvesting
properties of this dual-scale texture
A tetranuclear complex of a tetradonor-substituted olefin: non-innocence resulting in multi-step electrochromic behavior
The tetrakis(4-styryl)ethene (TSTE 4−)-bridged tetraruthenium complex [{(P i Pr 3) 2(CO)ClRu} 4{μ 4-(CHCHC 6H 4) 4(CC)}] undergoes four consecutive oxidations at low potential. The ligand-dominated nature of these processes is confirmed by spectroscopic and quantum-chemical investigations