Organic photovoltaics have seen a large increase in the efficiency of their cells in the last years. At press time, this increase is about 74% in a year. Liquid crystals have been a main contributor to this increase. However, to this date no book combines the basics of liquid crystals with that of organic photovoltaics.
This book explores why the properties of liquid crystals make them ideal for use in photovoltaic applications. It achieves this by presenting a description of the properties of liquid crystals and how their electronic properties compare to that of polymers used in organic photovoltaics. It explores how the type of liquid crystal chosen can help in improving the efficiency of the photovoltaics. It compares experimental and theoretical ways in which the efficiency is directly or indirectly estimated between the organic photovoltaics and the organic photovoltaics that contain a liquid crystal. It first introduces liquid crystals and their different varieties, before reviewing their electronic transfer properties and how they can improve efficiency. It is an ideal text for graduate students and young researches considering entering the area of photovoltaics - specifically, organic photovoltaics – who do not yet have knowledge of this field.
- Introduces the field of liquid crystals and provides basic information to those new to the field, in a concise and visual manner
- Describes which characteristics of a liquid crystal are most advantageous to use in photovoltaics
- Provides basic knowledge of photovoltaics for those who do not have previous knowledge of how they behave electronically
Chapter 1 What are liquid crystals and how do we measure their order?
Chapter 2 Energetic Properties of Liquid Crystals: Relation to the Order Parameters
Chapter 3 Review of organic electronics
Chapter 4 Liquid Crystals in Photovoltaics
Luz J. Martínez-Miranda is Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the American Physical Society (APS), and winner of the 2013 Edward A. Bouchet Prize of the APS for her research in liquid crystals. She serves in the board of the International Liquid Crystal Society (ILCS). She served as president and board member of the National Society for Hispanic Physicists (NSHP) and was a board member for the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). She has been working with liquid crystals as a graduate student. O
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