Project description
Novel composition converts infrared into visible light
Solar energy is a clean alternative to fossil fuels, but there is a limit to how much of the Sun's energy can be converted to electricity. Photon upconversion – converting the energy of two photons into one photon of higher energy – has recently shown that it can break the solar cell theoretical efficiency limit. The EU-funded NIRLAMS project aims to increase the efficiency of upconversion by exploiting chromophores and special protein-lipid interactions. The composition will increase the solar cell absorption spectrum by harvesting near-infrared light and converting it to visible light that can be easily absorbed by solar cells. This should increase market penetration of solar technology.
Objective
The depleting fossils fuels added by their high carbon emission have been constantly putting pressure on scientific community to find an economic solution in the form of green energy. The utilization of everlasting solar energy is possible solution which has been researched for a long now but has constraints of Shockley Queisser Limit. The recent emergence of photon upconversion has given hope to overcome this limit by upconverting the transmitted sub band gap photons to band gap responsive light. Among the existing UC phenomenon triplet-triplet annihilation based photon upconversion (TTA-UC) leading the way because of its function at sub solar irradiance and 1.5 solar spectrum. Most of the TTA-UC systems are limited to Vis to Vis UC which though have contributed immensely for conceptual development of the filed; however for practical applications in photonic devices NIR to Vis TTA-UC would be more ideal. This is because; (1) NIR is low energy non-invasive light which is useful for biological applications and (2) can overcome the Shockley Queisser Limit of solar cells. On the other hand NIR to Vis TTA-UC systems are although reported they are mostly limited to deoxygenated organic solvents which have limitation of device fabrication. This is due to low solubility of NIR to Vis dyes in synthetic polymers and quenching by molecular oxygen. Therefore, the present proposal is aimed at overcoming these issues by introducing an innovative approach of protein-lipid-chromophores co-assembly both for aqueous and solid state NIR to Vis TTA-UC in oxygenated environment. The proposed approach is supported by the fact that nonpolar domains of protein-lipid coassembly can solubilize the hydrophobic NIR to Vis dyes and thick H-bonding network of protein can prevent oxygen inflow into chromophore region. The proposed project would lead to a new conceptual development for efficient solar upconversion and will broaden the solar light harvesting range for solar energy conversion system
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels renewable energy solar energy
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- natural sciences chemical sciences polymer sciences
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels energy conversion
- natural sciences physical sciences theoretical physics particle physics photons
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2018
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
412 96 Goteborg
Sweden
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.