Light-Emitting Materials – Active Components of Luminescent Solar Concentrators

Merocyanines: Electronic Structure and Spectroscopy in Solutions, Solid State, and Gas Phase

Merocyanines, owing to their readily tunable electronic structure, are arguably the most versatile functional dyes, with ample opportunities for tailored design via variations of both the donor/acceptor (D/A) end groups and π-conjugated polymethine chain. A plethora of spectral properties, such as strong solvatochromism, high polarizability and hyperpolarizabilities, and sensitizing capacity, motivates extensive studies for their applications in light-converting materials for optoelectronics, nonlinear optics, optical storage, fluorescent probes, etc. Evidently, an understanding of the intrinsic structure-property relationships is a prerequisite for the successful design of functional dyes. For merocyanines, these regularities have been explored for over 70 years, but only in the past three decades have these studies expanded beyond the theory of their color and solvatochromism toward their electronic structure in the ground and excited states. This Review outlines the fundamental principles, essential for comprehension of the variable nature of merocyanines, with the main emphasis on understanding the impact of internal (chemical structure) and external (intermolecular interactions) factors on the electronic symmetry of the D-π-A chromophore. The research on the structure and properties of merocyanines in different media is reviewed in the context of interplay of the three virtual states: nonpolar polyene, ideal polymethine, and zwitterionic polyene.

Performance of Luminescent Solar Concentrators Integrated with Negative Replica Layers of Leaf Surface Microstructures

In this study, a negative replica layer of leaf surface microstructures was used to cover the top surfaces of semitransparent thin-film luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) to enhance the concentrators’ performance. With low reflection on the air–glass interface of the glass plate in a thin-film LSC, a negative replica layer enables the scattering of incident sunlight and increases the path of light transmitted into the LSC and the thin phosphor layer at the bottom surface of the LSC. The incident sunlight is therefore more likely to interact with the phosphor particles in the thin-film phosphor layer, thereby enhancing the performance of the LSC. In this study, semitransparent thin-film LSCs with different inorganic phosphors were examined. The experimental results revealed that the optical collection efficiency of semitransparent thin-film LSCs covered with negative replica layers of leaf surface microstructures was higher than that of the semitransparent thin-film LSCs without negative replica layers. Furthermore, the LSCs with negative replica layers with high haze ratios exhibited high optical collection efficiency. Integrating negative replica layers of leaf surface microstructures as semitransparent layers in thin-film LSCs may optimize the application of LSCs in building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs).

Light management using CsPbBr3colloidal quantum dots for luminescent solar concentrators

CsPbBr3 colloidal quantum dots have been synthesized by hot-injection method showing spherical shape with an average diameter of ~ 10.5 nm. UV-vis absorption of CsPbBr3 colloidal quantum dots shows a broad spectrum with an optical bandgap of ~ 2.3682 eV. The steady-state photoluminescence measurement reveals a narrow emission peak at 2.352 eV with full-width at half maximum of 0.113 eV. Absolute photoluminescence quantum yield of colloidal quantum dots dispersed in poly(methyl methacrylate) was found to be 60±1%. The time-resolved photoluminescence data recorded at 266 nm excitation were well fitted using a mono-exponential curve with a decay time of 25.36 (5) ns. A luminescent solar concentrator was fabricated using colloidal quantum dots in transparent poly(methyl methacrylate) polymer uniformly coated over glass substrate that shows an external optical conversion efficiency of ~ 5.4 % under one sun illumination. The experimental results presented in this manuscript reveals that luminescent solar concentrator prepared using colloidal CsPbBr3 quantum dots shows absorption in wide spectral range, high absorption coefficient, high photoluminescence quantum yield, high external optical conversion efficiency, and good photostability, thermal stability and long-term stability under ambient conditions and therefore are in many ways superior to the other luminescent materials explored for LSC devices.

Photolysis of 3-(1-acyl-5-aryl-3-pyrazolinyl)coumarins-Effective Fluorescence Decay

Photophysical characteristics of new 3-(1-acyl-5-aryl-3-pyrazolinyl)coumarins have been measured. These coumarin derivatives are found to be effective fluorophores and show high values of quantum yields of fluorescence both in nonpolar and in polar solvents. The 3-(1-acyl-5-aryl-3-pyrazolinyl)coumarins turned to be photosensitive compounds and undergo photolysis under irradiation in the range of 310-465 nm. Photolysis is suggested to include retro-cyclization and retro-condensation steps. The process is accompanied by a sharp drop of fluorescence that can be of interest for the creation of new media in optical recording of information.

A push–pull silafluorene fluorophore for highly efficient luminescent solar concentrators

We report on the preparation of luminescent collectors based on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) thin films doped with a red-emitting 2-amino-7-acceptor-9-silafluorene, where the amino group is –N(CH₃)₂and the acceptor is –CHC(CN)₂.

Perylene Derivative Dyes Luminescence in Polysiloxane Matrix in Presence of Gold Nanoparticles

Four perylene derivatives, including commercially available dyes Lumogen Red and Lumogen Orange, as well as 1,6,7,12-tetrachlоrоperylene-3,4,9,10-tetradicarboxydianhydride (Dye I) and 3,4:9,10-bis(1,2-benzimidazole)- 1,6,7,12-tetra(4-tert-octylphenoxy) perylene (syn/ anti-isomers) (Dye III, which was prepared from dye I through intermediate 3,4:9,10-bis(1,2-benzimidazole)-1,6,7,12-tetrachloro perylene (Dye II)) were used for preparation of polysiloxane samples (PSi) containing different concentrations of gold nanoparticles (GN). Dyes I and III demonstrate significant fluorescence intensity increase upon addition of GN independent on excitation energy. For Lumogen Red composition in PSi some increase of fluorescence intensity was observed upon addition of small concentrations of GN, while further increase of GN concentration quenches fluorescence. The increase of Lumogen Red emission intensity, which depends on energy of excitation, is probably due to the increase of radiation decay rate since excitation rate decreases. Effect of GN on Lumogen Orange provided quenching of fluorescence even at small concentrations of GN. Calculations at DFT level of approximation for dye III suggest location of GN in plane of perylene core for increase of fluorescence intensity.