Colloidal Nanomaterials As the Building Blocks for Next-Generation Solar Cells

The use of colloidally synthesized nanomaterials in photovoltaic devices is attractive because of the low-cost and scalability of solution-based fabrication methods. Moreover, the facile control over optoelectronic properties, via the fine control over structure these methods afford, can potentially be exploited in highly efficient next-generation solar cells.  Design, synthesis and characterization of novel nanomaterials to enable advanced-concept solar cells are an important part of the ongoing effort within the Center for Advanced Solar Photophysics, a DOE Energy Frontier Research Center. I will discuss a number of specific examples from this work that explore the range of complexities achievable through inexpensive wet-chemical methods. Themes to be examined include the straightforward rendering of established bulk materials into quantum-confined nanocrystal form, band-gap engineering in semiconductor nanoheterostructures, and finally the controlled coupling of plasmonic metal nanoparticles with semiconductor nanocrystals in a diverse series of hybrid superstructures.