Nanostructured Materials for Solar Energy Conversion covers a wide variety of materials and device types from inorganic materials to organic materials. This book deals with basic semiconductor physics, modelling of nanostructured solar cell, nanostructure of conventional solar cells such as silicon, CIS and CdTe, dye-sensitized solar cell, organic solar cell, photosynthetic materials, fullerene, extremely thin absorber (ETA) solar cell, quantum structured solar cell, intermediate band solar cell, carbon nanotube, etc. including basic principle and the latest results. There are many books written on conventional p-n junction solar cells, but few books focus on new concepts in this area. * Focuses on the use of nanostructured materials for solar energy* Looks at a wide variety of materials and device types* Covers both organic and inorganic materials

The use of nanomaterials in technologies for photovoltaic applications continues to represent an important area of research. There are numerous mechanisms by which the incorporation of nanomaterials can improve device performance. We invited authors to contribute articles covering the most recent progress and new developments in the design and utilization of nanomaterials for highly efficient, novel devices relevant to solar cell applications. This book covers a broad range of subjects, from nanomaterials synthesis to the design and characterization of photovoltaic devices and technologies with nanomaterial integration.

Nanostructured, Functional, and Flexible Materials for Energy Conversion and Storage Systems gathers and reviews developments within the field of nanostructured functional materials towards energy conversion and storage. Contributions from leading research groups involved in interdisciplinary research in the fields of chemistry, physics and materials science and engineering are presented. Chapters dealing with the development of nanostructured materials for energy conversion processes, including oxygen reduction, methanol oxidation, oxygen evolution, hydrogen evolution, formic acid oxidation and solar cells are discussed. The work concludes with a look at the application of nanostructured functional materials in energy storage system, such as supercapacitors and batteries. With its distinguished international team of expert contributors, this book will be an indispensable tool for anyone involved in the field of energy conversion and storage, including materials engineers, scientists and academics. Covers the importance of energy conversion and storage systems and the application of nanostructured functional materials toward energy-relevant catalytic processes Discusses the basic principles involved in energy conversion and storage systems Presents the role of nanostructured functional materials in the current scenario of energy-related research and development

MATERIALS FOR SOLAR ENERGY CONVERSION This book provides professionals and students with a resource on the basic principles and applications of solar energy materials and processes, as well as practicing engineers who want to understand how functional materials operate in solar energy conversion systems. The demand for energy is increasing daily, and the development of sustainable power generation is a critical issue. In order to overcome the energy demand, power generation through solar energy is booming. Many research works have attempted to enhance the efficiency of collection and storage of solar energy and, as a result, numerous advanced functional materials have been developed for enhancing the performance of solar cells. This book has compiled and broadly explores the latest developments of materials, methods, and applications of solar energy. The book is divided into 2 parts, in which the first part deals with solar cell fundamentals and emerging categories, and the latter part deals with materials, methods, and applications in order to fill the gap between existing technologies and practical requirements. The book presents detailed chapters including organic, inorganic, coating materials, and collectors. The use of modern computer simulation techniques, conversion and storage processes are effectively covered. Topics such as nanostructured solar cells, battery materials, etc. are included in this book as well. Audience The book is aimed at researchers in materials science, chemistry, physics, electrical and mechanical engineering working in the fields of nanotechnology, photovoltaic device technology, and solar energy.

The use of nanomaterials in energy conversion and storage represents an opportunity to improve the performance, density and ease of transportation in renewable resources. This book looks at the most recent research on the topic, with particular focus on artificial photosynthesis and lithium-ion batteries as the most promising technologies to date. Research on the broad subject of energy conversion and storage calls for expertise from a wide range of backgrounds, from the most fundamental perspectives of the key catalytic processes at the molecular level to device scale engineering and optimization. Although the nature of the processes dictates that electrochemistry is a primary characterization tool, due attention is given to advanced techniques such as synchrotron studies in operando. These studies look at the gap between the performance of current technology and what is needed for the future, for example how to improve on the lithium-ion battery and to go beyond its capabilities.Suitable for students and practitioners in the chemical, electrochemical, and environmental sciences, Nanomaterials for Energy Conversion and Storage provides the information needed to find scalable, economically viable and safe solutions for sustainable energy.

Nanostructured Materials for Next-Generation Energy Storage and Conversion: Photovoltaic and Solar Energy, is volume 4 of a 4-volume series on sustainable energy. Photovoltaic and Solar Energy while being a comprehensive reference work, is written with minimal jargon related to various aspects of solar energy and energy policies. It is authored by leading experts in the field, and lays out theory, practice, and simulation studies related to solar energy and allied applications including policy, economic and technological challenges. Topics covered include: introduction to solar energy, fundamentals of solar radiation, heat transfer, thermal collection and conversion, solar economy, heating, cooling, dehumidification systems, power and process heat, solar power conversion, policy and applications pertinent to solar energy as viable alternatives to fossil fuels. The aim of the book is to present all the information necessary for the design and analysis of solar energy systems for engineers, material scientists, economics, policy analysts, graduate students, senior undergraduates, solar energy practitioner, as well as policy or lawmakers in the field of energy policy, international energy trade, and libraries which house technical handbooks related to energy, energy policy and applications.

The energy requirements of our planet will continue to grow with increasing world population and the modernization of currently underdeveloped countries. This will force us to search for environmental friendly alternative energy resources. Solar energy by far provides the largest of all renewable energy resources with an average power of 120 000 TW irradiated from the sun which can be exploited through solar electricity, solar fuel, and biomass. Nanostructured materials have been the subject of extensive research as the building block for construction of solar energy conversion devices for the past decades. The nanostructured materials sometimes have peculiar electrical and optical properties that are often shape and size dependent and are not expected in the bulk phase. Recent research has focused on new strategies to control nanostructured morphologies and compositions of semiconductor materials to optimize their solar conversion efficiency. In this dissertation, we discuss the synthesis and characterizations of one dimensional nanostructured TiO2 based materials and their solar energy conversion applications. We have developed a solvothermal synthesis method for growing densely packed, vertical, single crystalline TiO2 rutile nanowire arrays with unprecedented small feature sizes of 5 nm and lengths up to 4.4 [mu]m. Because of TiO2's large band gap, the working spectrum of TiO2 is limited to the ultra violet region with photons shorter than 420 nm. We demonstrate that the active spectrum of TiO2 can be shifted to ~ 520 nm with incorporation of N via nitridation of TiO2 nanowires in NH3 flow. In addition, we demonstrate a synergistic effect involving hydrogenation and nitridation cotreatment of TiO2 nanowires that further redshift the active spectrum of TiO2 to 570 nm. The Ta and N co-incorporated TiO2 nanowires were also prepared and showed significant enhancement in photoelectrochemical performance compared to mono-incorporation of Ta or N. This enhancement is due to fewer recombination centers from charge compensation effects and suppression of the formation of an amorphous layer on the nanowires during the nitridation process. Finally, we have developed hydrothermal synthesis of single crystalline TiO2 nanoplatelet arrays on virtually all substrates and demonstrated their applications in water photo-oxidation and dye sensitized solar cells.