Polymeric Materials Lab
Solar Cells
Organic/ Polymer solar cells
In recent years, polymer solar cells (PSCs) have attracted a lot of attention for their potential as new generation of renewable energy. They have the advantages of flexibility, low fabrication cost, being lightweight, having large area, etc.
The most commonly used polymer solar cell device structure is the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) structure due to its high efficiency. In this structure, an electron-donating conjugated polymer blends with an electron acceptor, such as 6,6-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), as the active layer. The BHJ structure not only provides sufficient interfacial area for exciton dissociation, but also forms an interpenetrating network for charge transport to collecting electrodes.
For improving power conversion efficiency (PCE) of PSCs, many research groups have been devoted to the design and synthesis of new conjugated polymeric donor materials with high carrier mobility, broader absorption of the solar spectrum, and relatively lower-lying HOMO (the highest occupied molecular orbital) energy levels .
C0ming soon!
Polyimides
Aromatic polyimides exhibit excellent electrical and mechanical properties, along with high thermal and thermo-oxidative stability. The polymers also display chemical and solvent resistance, good adhesive properties, and light and dimensional stability. This unique combination of properties has led to wide industrial high-temperature applications in films, fibers, coatings, adhesives, and matrix materials in polymer composites.
C0ming soon!
Silver nano-wire/particle
C0ming soon!
Fuel cells
Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC)
Fuel cells are great potential green power with hight energy conversion efficiency, low pollutant emission, low noise, and many other advantages.
High temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HTPEMFCs) based on phosphoric acid-doped polybenzimidazole (PBI) have received wide attention over the past decade. As opposed to perfluorosulphonic acid polymers (e.g. Nafion), which only function properly when they are in a highly hydrated state within a limited temperature range (<100 C), phosphoric acid-doped PBI can function at elevated temperatures (100– 200 C) under anhydrous conditions.
High temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HTPEMFCs) have many benifit, such as the increasing of the kinetic, the enhancement of the electrode tolerance to fuel impurities (e.g. CO), simplification of the cooling system/ humidification system.
Polybenzoxazoles