High-Performance Luminescent Solar Concentrators Based on Poly(Cyclohexylmethacrylate) (PCHMA) Films

Francisco José Ostos; Giuseppe Iasilli; Marco Carlotti; Andrea Pucci

doi:10.3390/polym12122898

High-Performance Luminescent Solar Concentrators Based on Poly(Cyclohexylmethacrylate) (PCHMA) Films

Polymers (Basel). 2020 Dec 3;12(12):2898. doi: 10.3390/polym12122898.

Authors

Francisco José Ostos¹, Giuseppe Iasilli², Marco Carlotti³, Andrea Pucci²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Seville, c/Prof. García González 1, 41012 Seville, Spain.
² Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale, Università di Pisa, via Moruzzi 13, 56124 Pisa, Italy.
³ Center for MicroBioRobotics, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, 56025 Pontedera, Italy.

Abstract

In this study, we report on the use of poly(cyclohexylmethacrylate) (PCHMA) as an alternative to the commonly used poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) for the design of efficient luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs). PCHMA was selected due to its less polar nature with respect to PMMA, a characteristic that was reported to be beneficial in promoting the fluorophore dispersibility in the matrix, thus maximizing the efficiency of LSCs also at high doping. In this sense, LSC thin films based on PCHMA and containing different contents of Lumogen F Red 305 (LR, 0.2-1.8 wt%) demonstrated optical efficiencies (η_opt) comprising between 9.5% and 10.0%, i.e., about 0.5-1% higher than those collected from the LR/PMMA systems. The higher LR/polymer interactions occurred using the PCHMA matrix maximized the solar harvesting characteristics of the fluorophore and limited the influence of the adverse dissipative phenomena on the fluorophore quantum efficiency. These effects were also reflected by varying the LSC film thickness and reaching maximum η_opt of about 11.5% in the case of PCHMA films of about 30 µm.

Keywords: Lumogen F Red 305; luminescent solar concentrators; optical efficiency; photovoltaics; poly(cyclohexylmethacrylate); poly(methylmethacrylate).