2012- 21st Annual NC State Undergraduate Research Symposium

Session Time : 4/10/12 12:15 PM - 4/10/12 1:30 PM

Content Area : Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

Poster Appointment: , -

Student Presenters :
Amanda Lee Cox Chemical Engineering

Mentors and/or Co-Authors :
Richard Spontak Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Abstract Title : Elastomeric Photovoltaics Derived from Microphase-Separated Block Ionomers

Abstract :
In our age of dwindling oil reserves and rising energy costs, efforts to identify alternative energy sources are rapidly growing. We are interested in studying the effects of using a pentablock ionomer to facilitate the development of dye-sensitive photovoltaics. Based on the system developed by Velev and co-workers, the two photosensitive dyes incorporated into the copolymer hydrogel are DAS^- and [Ru(bpy)₃]²⁺. We have found that the system under investigation produces a current density that is comparable to previous work performed with hydrogels derived from agar. This observation has provided impetus to increase the current density of the cell by changing the solvent used in the dye solution to water, which resulted in a decrease in current density relative to the efficiency of the dyes in ethanol. The effect of using 5 µL of both dyes in the ethanol solvent, putting the DAS^-dye in the cell first and then adding the [Ru(bpy)₃]²⁺dye afterward, has produced the highest current densities in repeat experiments, reaching a maximum of 4.19 µA/cm². We propose that this sequence of events might be related to interactions between the functional groups of the copolymer and the DAS^- dye.