Nanostructured forms of sp2 hybridized carbon, such as carbon nanotubes and graphene, are unique in that they have electronic, thermal, and mechanical properties that rival or exceed other metallic or semiconducting materials. However, they also are atomically well-defined and molecular in scale. more...
The understanding and duplication of the component processes of natural photosynthesis is an important scientific undertaking. Significant progress has been made in the construction of molecular systems capable of some of these functions, such as light absorption and concentration, photoinduced electron transfer, and catalysis of redox processes that produce high energy fuels. Nevertheless, the efficiency and robustness of these systems must be improved, and the integration of multiple functions into a single system is important yet rare. more...
Humans annually consume less energy than the amount provided by the sunlight that strikes the Earth’s surface in an hour. Furthermore, environmental and political concerns surrounding the burning of petroleum-based fuels have caused solar energy conversion to attract significantly increased attention. Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), a promising alternative to conventional silicon photovoltaics, achieve charge separation through the injection of an electron from the excited state of a light-absorbing sensitizer into the conduction band of a wide bandgap semiconductor. more...
