Science Initiative, called the Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics (COPE), was created to bring together its members in the development of organic and printed electronics. Researchers involved in COPE Purdue University (Indiana, USA) created a fundamentally new type of solar cell that consists entirely of plant material. Previously this was not possible because as a substrate in any case have to use glass or plastic.
This problem was solved by the use of cellulose nanocrystals obtained from wood. Of them can be optically transparent base, through which the light is absorbed by a thin layer of organic semiconductor. The production of these batteries do not require fossil materials, and at the end of their life cycle, they can be easily recycled. Although the efficiency of the described elements is low (only 2.7%), the developers note that, for products made from renewable materials it is an great achievement. Related Products :
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