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July 7, 2004
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AMY CANNON IS HANCOCK AWARDEE
Environmentally benign, dye-sensitized solar cell merits prize |
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LINDA RABER |
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Amy S. Cannon, a graduate student of John C. Warner’s at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, received the 2004 Kenneth G. Hancock Memorial Student Award in Green Chemistry at ceremonies held last week in Washington, D.C. Cannon was selected for her work on designing an environmentally benign, efficient, and inexpensive titanium dioxide dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC).
The award consists of $1,000 and is named in honor of an early proponent of green chemistry who died unexpectedly in 1994 during his tenure as director of the Chemistry Division of the National Science Foundation.
Titanium dioxide solar cells are typically constructed at high temperatures (400–500 °C), but the process is energy-intensive and limits the choice of substrate. Cannon found that the addition of catalytic amounts of trimesic acid to titanium dioxide permits the films to coalesce at ambient temperature yet produces films with the same physical characteristics as those prepared by traditional methods. Cannon is also investigating a series of spiropyrans as possible cosensitizers to prevent back electron transfer in DSSCs, thereby improving efficiency. These research projects aim to advance the development of more sustainable methods of manufacturing DSSCs.
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Chemical & Engineering News
ISSN 0009-2347
Copyright © 2004 |
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