Computational Predictions of Conjugated Polymer Properties for Photovoltaic Applications
Popular Abstract in English The energy demands of human society are huge and will keep increasing for the foreseeable future. Fossil fuels have largely been able to meet those demands for the last centuries, but issues of sustainability and global warming have brought about a need for alternative energy sources. The emission of the sun supplies earth with an energy that is many thousand times largOrganic solar cells employing fullerenes blended with conjugated polymers as the main light-absorbing material have achieved power conversion efficiencies exceeding 10%. They hold promise as an alternative energy source with many advantages in terms of long-term sustainability and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Detailed information on the electronic and geometric structure of the molecules invo