Plasmonics study suggests how to maximize production of 'hot electrons'

New research from Rice University could make it easier for engineers to harness the power of light-capturing nanomaterials to boost the efficiency and reduce the costs of photovoltaic solar cells. Although the domestic solar-energy industry grew by 34 percent in 2014, fundamental technical breakthroughs are needed if the U.S. is to meet its national...

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Make mine a decaf: breakthrough in knowledge of how nanoparticles grow

A team of researchers from the University of Leicester and France’s G2ELab-CNRS in Grenoble have for the first time observed the growth of free nanoparticles in helium gas in a process similar to the decaffeination of coffee, providing new insights into the structure of nanoparticles. Nanoparticles have a very large surface area compared with their...

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Artificial moth eyes enhance the performance of silicon solar cells

Mimicking the texture found on the highly antireflective surfaces of the compound eyes of moths, researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory use block copolymer self assembly to produce precise and tunable nanotextured designs in the range of ~20 nm across macroscopic silicon solar cells ("Sub-50-nm Self-Assembled Nanotextures for Enhanced Broadband...

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