(Press-News.org) Washington, D.C. (September 28, 2010) -- Polymer-based photovoltaic cells have some real advantages compared to the currently used semiconductor-based cells. They are easy to make and the materials are cheap. The challenge is to figure out how to make efficient cells while keeping the manufacturing cost low.
One approach uses a light-absorbing polymer along with a derivative of a sixty-carbon fullerene molecule, commonly known as a buckyball. For maximum efficiency, the two materials must be present in thin layers near opposite electrodes but most analytical methods cannot distinguish between polymer and the buckyball well enough to characterize the plastic solar cell film.
New research reported in the Journal of Chemical Physics describes a technique that analyzes the reflection of neutrons to locate the buckyballs within the composite material.
"Neutron scattering is not a new technique but it has yet to be widely applied to this class of materials," says researcher Brian Kirby of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. "With this paper, we are providing an instruction book for researchers who want to use neutrons to study polymer photovoltaics."
He points out that while neutron scattering requires a reactor or particle accelerator - not typical lab equipment – scattering facilities are widely available to industrial and academic users.
Because both the polymer and the buckyball are composed mostly of carbon and their locations must be defined within a few nanometers, standard techniques have not provided sufficient resolution to describe the location of the buckyballs. As a result, much of the research on organic solar cells has been a trial and error process. Neutrons happen to interact with the polymer and the buckyball derivative very differently, leading to a sharp contrast.
"Our goal is more effective research on photovoltaic devices," says researcher Jon Kiel of the University of Delaware. "Using this technique, we have confirmed that particles are not distributed in the ideal way and have shown how to evaluate the distribution in new materials."
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The article, "Phase-sensitive neutron reflectometry measurements applied in the study of photovoltaic films" by J. W. Kiel, M. E. Mackay, B. J. Kirby, B. B. Maranville and C. F. Majkrzak is published in The Journal of Chemical Physics. http://link.aip.org/link/jcpsa6/v133/i7/p074902/s1
ABOUT THE JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
The Journal of Chemical Physics publishes concise and definitive reports of significant research in methods and applications of chemical physics. Innovative research in traditional areas of chemical physics such as spectroscopy, kinetics, statistical mechanics, and quantum mechanics continue to be areas of interest to readers of JCP. In addition, newer areas such as polymers, materials, surfaces/interfaces, information theory, and systems of biological relevance are of increasing importance. Routine applications of chemical physics techniques may not be appropriate for JCP. Content is published online daily, collected into four monthly online and printed issues (48 issues per year); the journal is published by the American Institute of Physics. See: http://jcp.aip.org/
ABOUT AIP
The American Institute of Physics is a federation of 10 physical science societies representing more than 135,000 scientists, engineers, and educators and is one of the world's largest publishers of scientific information in the physical sciences. Offering partnership solutions for scientific societies and for similar organizations in science and engineering, AIP is a leader in the field of electronic publishing of scholarly journals. AIP publishes 12 journals (some of which are the most highly cited in their respective fields), two magazines, including its flagship publication Physics Today; and the AIP Conference Proceedings series. Its online publishing platform Scitation hosts nearly two million articles from more than 185 scholarly journals and other publications of 28 learned society publishers.
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Professor Sonia Ghumman from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa Shidler College of Business has completed an intensive marketing research on the effects of Muslim women who wear hijabs (head scarves) in the U.S.
Ghumman's research examined the expectations that women who wear hijabs have regarding their employment opportunities. "We surveyed 219 American Muslim women on their job seeking experience," said Ghumman. "The findings reveal that Hijabis are not only aware of their stigma of being Muslim, but also expect to be treated differently in the workplace as a result ...
Grand Rapids, Mich. (September 28, 2010) – New findings from Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) scientists could lead to environmentally-friendly sprays that help plants survive drought and other stresses in harsh environments to combat global food shortages. The study is a follow-up to findings published in Nature last year that were named among the top breakthroughs of 2009 by Science magazine.
"I think that the work established the methodologies and feasibilities of finding cheap and environmentally benign chemicals for agricultural application to improve the water ...
A global temperature increase of up to 4.2 º C and the end of coral reefs could become reality by 2100 if national targets are not revised in the Copenhagen Accord, the international pledge which was agreed at last year's Copenhagen's COP15 climate change conference.
Just ahead of the next United Nations Climate Change Conference, which starts on 4 October in Tianjin, China, a new report published today, Wednesday, 29 September, in IOP Publishing's Environmental Research Letters describes how, due to lack of global action to date, only a small chance remains for keeping ...
In a recently published study in the journal Addiction, researchers from Bowling Green State University report evidence of an association between father's incarceration and substantially elevated risks for illegal drug use in adolescence and early adulthood.
The number of persons incarcerated in the United States has sharply risen over the past several decades, from about 250,000 in 1975 to 2,250,000 in 2006. So too has the number of children with incarcerated parents, particularly fathers. The consequences of father's incarceration for their children, families, and communities ...
ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Twelve years ago, then 28-year-old graduate student Brian Zikmund-Fisher was forced into the toughest choice of his life: Die from a blood disorder within a few years or endure a bone marrow transplant that could cure him or kill him in weeks.
Zikmund-Fisher, now an assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health specializing in health communication, chose to gamble. After nine months of blood transfusions, a bone marrow match was found in Australia. Zikmund-Fisher spent another month in isolation until his new immune system ...
Home owners using the new Solar Home Loan Calculator can determine how to leverage their home equity to install solar power and gain a secure and cheap power source, said ZEN Home Energy Systems Chief Executive Officer, Richard Turner.
"We've known for some time now it is cheaper to produce your own energy at home than buy, but one of the biggest barriers facing householders is finding the cash to finance installation of a whole home solar energy system," Mr Turner said.
"Currently the only other solar funding alternatives in the market are consumer finance packages ...
Professor Ewart Keep. ESRC Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (SKOPE). Professor Ewart Keep's research interests include the links between skills and economic performance (broadly defined), the education and training policy formation process, employers' perceptions of training and the factors that influence their willingness to invest in skills, 14-19 vocational education and training, higher education policy and the graduate labour market, lifelong learning, and the linkages between skills and people management issues.
Dr Scott Hurrell. University ...
It is 88 days before Christmas and Warplanes is throwing away an early Christmas gift for all their Facebook fans and Twitter followers! They are giving away beautiful hand-made models of the F-15E Strike Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon and an Apache Longbow AH-64D through their blogging and twitting contest.
"Blog, Grab and Brag" Warplanes.com's Win a Model Airplane Contest are for Facebook fanatics and bloggers. To join, one must post a blog article stating the reason(s) on why he/she should win. A link to the entry should be posted on Warplanes' fan page wall. Started ...
On the premiere of the show last February, Ally Loprete, Founder and CEO of OurMilkMoney.com and host of the show, had declared she would "Bring 1 million parents home" but the mission has since been redefined to "Helping 1 million parents work from home."

There had been a lot of unnecessary controversy about what our mission was about, and Loprete saw the show's temporary hiatus as the perfect opportunity to fine tune its purpose. "All of a sudden it became a feminism issue, and that was certainly not what was intended," says Loprete, "With so much to accomplish, ...
Taste of Haiti - Artists and Their Brushes
Who: The Caribbean American Network and Billionaire Girls Club
What: Taste of Haiti The Artist and Their Brushes Fundraiser
When: Thursday September 23,2010
Where: 320 Studios 320 West 37th Street 4th Fl, New York, NY 10018
This past weekend The Caribbean American Network, Inc. in collaboration with Billionaire Girls Club, Inc hosted an enchanting art exhibition Taste of Haiti: Artists and their Brushes at the lavish 320 Studios NYC, Hosted by Guy Evans Fords this event was geared towards the preservation of ...
