碳纳米材料发光调控及其在荧光太阳能聚集器上的应用

Cutting the cost for utility of solar energy has consistently been a hot topic for basic scientific research. Whilst, to concentrate the solar light is an important way to boost the efficiency of solar energy utilization. Thus it is of vital significance to fabricate high-quality luminescent solar concentrators (LSC). In this project, rare metal ions-coupled or functionalized carbon nanomaterials (graphene quantum dots and carbon nanodots) will be promoted and synthesized. And their photoluminescent properties are expected to be dramatically modified through the resonance energy transfer between metal ions (or functional groups) and the carbon clusters. Correspondingly, the long-wavelength emission, e.g., 650 nm, could be remarkably enhanced with a much higher conversion of visible light. On this basis, this project is aiming to implement luminescent carbon-based nanomaterials to replace the traditional fluorescent materials to develop a new generation of LSC. In this project, the structure of this LSC is elaborately designed, and one dimensional photonic crystal is employed onto the surface to prohibit the escaping of photons. Owing to the outstanding performance of these carbon-based nanomaterials, such as high fluorescent quantum yield, low-cost and facile large-scale production, availability of various approaches without incurring the burden of intrinsic toxicity or environmental pollution, this project is believed to dramatically contribute to the design and development of new generation of LSC.

降低太阳能的使用成本一直以来都是基础科学研究的热门方向。对太阳光进行聚集是提高太阳能利用效率的一个重要途径，因此开发高效荧光太阳能聚集器具有重要意义。本项目拟构建稀土金属离子耦合或有机官能化的碳纳米材料（石墨烯量子点、碳纳米点），通过金属离子或有机官能团与碳团簇之间的能量共振转移来调控碳纳米材料的发光。使其波长650纳米的长波长发光得到增强，相应地，更多地吸收和利用可见光。在此基础上，以碳纳米材料来替代传统发光材料，开发新一代荧光太阳能聚集器。并且对荧光太阳能聚集器的结构进行全新的设计，引入一维光子晶体结构，减少光子在上表面的逸出，以获得更高的光聚集效率。由于碳纳米材料具备许多优点，例如发光量子效率高，可以通过多种简单、廉价的方法大规模制备，且制备过程无毒、无害，该研究有望推动新一代高效荧光太阳能聚集器的设计与开发。

发光碳纳米材料，包括石墨烯量子点、氧化石墨烯衍生物和碳纳米颗粒等，在生物传感、生物成像、光照、显示、太阳能吸收与转换等领域有着广泛的应用，一直以来都受到研究界的极大关注。然而，发光机制仍不清楚，存在激烈争论；对发光的调控以及在太阳能吸收与转换，特别是荧光太阳能聚集器方面的应用也比较欠缺。根据项目计划书提出的研究内容，本项目围绕碳纳米材料的发光机制、发光调控、太阳能吸收与转换三个主题词开展研究。深入研究了碳颗粒、石墨烯量子点中光子重吸收相关的问题，拓宽了发光调控的手段，在碳颗粒溶液和固态碳颗粒膜中均实现了发光波长调控。探讨了碳纳米球的紫外发光的机制以及利用金纳米结构的等离子体共振实现了发光的增强。设计并制备了一系列的宽谱吸收光热材料，实现了高效太阳能水蒸发和太阳能发电。在器件方面，利用波长可调谐的一维光子晶体层提高了量子点发光二极管性能，设计并制备了一系列的高性能荧光太阳能聚集器。在此基础上还探索研究了其它半导体纳米材料的发光相关的性质和应用，为下一个研究项目做了铺垫。