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Optics, Photonics and Laser Technology pp 223–241Cite as

Photochromic Materials Towards Energy Harvesting

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Part of the book series: Springer Series in Optical Sciences ((SSOS,volume 218))

Abstract

Solar to electrical energy conversion is one of the possible approaches regarding energy demand and sustainability. While traditional semiconductor photovoltaic units are seen to be well implemented in the market, with companies offering packs for both domestic and industries, the search for new materials and technologies aiming improvement in efficiency together with low cost issues has been continuously stressed over the past 20 years. This work point out a novel approach for energy conversion and storage devices, based on the so called photochromic electrets or photoelectrets, by using materials containing highly polarisable molecules as multifunctional diarylethenes (DTEs) and azobenzenes. This is supported by experimental results which show that (1) DTE-CN blends after electrical field induced orientation are able to induce external current response when submitted to visible light pulse (2) visible light is able to induce birefringence in layer-by-layer (LbL) films of poly{1-(4-(3-carboxy-4-hydroxy-phenylazo) benzenesulfonamido)-1,2-ethanediyl, sodium salt}(PAZO) and poly (allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH). These preliminary results allow to conclude that solar devices based on photoelectrets are worth to be further investigated towards energy harvesting.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial support from FEDER, through Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade—COMPETE and Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia—FCT, for the projects UID/FIS/00068/2013, POCTI/FAT/47529/2002 and PTDC/FIS-NAN/0909/2014.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CEFITEC, Departamento de Física, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516, Caparica, Portugal

    Gonçalo Magalhães-Mota, Pedro Farinha, Susana Sério, Paulo A. Ribeiro & Maria Raposo

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  1. Gonçalo Magalhães-Mota
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  2. Pedro Farinha
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  3. Susana Sério
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  4. Paulo A. Ribeiro
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  5. Maria Raposo
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Correspondence to Maria Raposo .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal

    Paulo A. Ribeiro

  2. Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal

    Maria Raposo

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Magalhães-Mota, G., Farinha, P., Sério, S., Ribeiro, P.A., Raposo, M. (2018). Photochromic Materials Towards Energy Harvesting. In: Ribeiro, P., Raposo, M. (eds) Optics, Photonics and Laser Technology. Springer Series in Optical Sciences, vol 218. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98548-0_11

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