In order to increase the generation efficiency of a silicon dioxide solar cell, two conductive substrates are arranged so that the conductive surfaces thereof face each other, at least one of the substrates is disposed upon the substrate facing the light entry-side substrate, and an electrolyte is filled between the silicon dioxide particles compact and the light entry-side substrate. Silicon dioxide solar cells having this configuration exhibit a significantly increased short circuit current and open circuit voltage in comparison to solar cells in which the silicon dioxide and the electrolyte are mixed. This configuration can further be improved by disposing a titanium dioxide solar cell or a dye-sensitized titanium dioxide solar cell upon the light entry-side substrate to further increase the short circuit current and the open circuit voltage.

The present invention concerns a device for room temperature reverse-bias operation photo-detection. The device comprising:—a planar first electrode extending in a planar direction;—a second electrode positioned above the first electrode in a direction substantially perpendicular to said planar direction; and—an active region sandwiched between the first and second electrode. The active region consists of a light absorbing perovskite and wherein the light absorbing perovskite is in direct contact with at least one of the first and second electrodes.

The invention provides a quantum dots-sensitized solar cell and a method of enhancing the optoelectronic performance of a quantum dots-sensitized solar cell using a co-adsorbent, in which a bifunctional molecule is used as the co-adsorbent and is mixed with aqueous quantum dots to form a quantum dots sensitizer, thereby improving the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the solar cell.

The present invention provides an improved redox couple for electrochemical and optoelectronic devices. The redox couple is based on a complex of a first row transition metal, said complex containing at least one mono-, bi-, or tridentate ligand comprising a substituted or unsubstituted ring or ring system comprising a five-membered N-containing heteroring and/or a six-membered ring comprising at least two heteroatoms, at least one of which being a nitrogen atom, said five- or six-membered heteroring, respectively, comprising at least one double bond. The invention also relates to electrolytes and to the devices containing the complex, and to the use of the complex as a redox couple. The invention further provides electrochemical and/or optoelectronic devices comprising a first and a second electrode and, between said first and second electrode, a charge transport layer, said a charge transport layer comprising tetracyanoborate ([B(CN).sub.4].sup.−) and a cationic metal complex functioning as redox-couple.

Transmission of low energy light is one of the primary loss mechanisms of a single junction solar cell. Molecular photon upconversion via triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA-UC)—combining two or more low energy photons to generate a higher energy excited state—is an intriguing strategy to surpass this limit. The present disclosure is directed to self-assembled multilayers, e.g., bi- or trilayers, on metal oxide surfaces as a strategy to facilitate TTA-UC emission and demonstrate direct charge separation of the upconverted state. A three-fold enhancement in transient photocurrent is achieved at light intensities as low as two equivalent suns. The multilayer structure comprises a substrate comprising a metal oxide surface and a bulk region, and a self-assembled bilayer film, the bilayer film comprising: (a) an acceptor molecule covalently bonded to the metal oxide surface; (b) a linking metal ion bonded to the acceptor molecule; and (c) one or more sensitizer molecule(s) bonded to the linking co-ordinating metal ion.

A method of inactivating harmful microorganisms of a filtration medium including pathogenic bacteria and viruses is disclosed which includes placing a predetermined quantity of a hybridized fluorescent silk on to a filtration medium, applying light for a predetermined amount of time to the placed quantity of the hybridized fluorescent silk, and passing a fluid through the medium, wherein the fluid is one of substantially air or substantially water,

wherein the hybridized fluorescent silk is one of KillerRed, SuperNova, KillerOrange, Dronpa, TurboGFP, mCherry, or any combination thereof.

The present invention relates to compounds of formula (I) ##STR00001##
based on a porphyrin core and a π-conjugated linker or acceptor introduced between the porphyrin core and an anchoring group having a high absorption coefficient covering the whole UV-Visible and near-infrared spectral response, and their use as sensitizer or dye and an electrochemical or optoelectronic device including a compound of the invention.

Method and system for generating electrical energy from a volume of water.

Disclosed is an electrolyte for dye-sensitized solar cell element, which contains a halogen, a halide salt, and a basic substance and in which a redox pair is formed by the halogen and the halide salt, the halogen and the halide salt have the same halogen atom, and the basic substance contains a first imidazole compound constituted by a benzimidazole compound and a second imidazole compound represented by the following formula (1), in which a volume molar concentration C.sub.2 of the second imidazole compound is lower than a volume molar concentration C.sub.1 of the first imidazole compound:

##STR00001##

(in the formula (1), R.sup.1 to R.sup.4 each independently represent a hydrogen atom, a hydrocarbon group having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms or the like. R.sup.5 and R.sup.6 each independently represent an aliphatic hydrocarbon group or the like).

A photoelectric conversion element including: a first electrode having a photosensitive layer including a light absorber on a conductive support; a second electrode facing the first electrode; and a hole transport layer provided between the first and the second electrodes, in which the light absorber includes a compound having a perovskite-type crystal structure having a cation of Group 1 element of the periodic table or a cationic organic group A, a cation of a metallic atom M that is not Group 1 element of the periodic table, and an anion of an anionic atom X, and an organic solvent content per cubic millimeter of the hole transport layer is 1×10.sup.−10 to 1×10.sup.−7 mol, a solar cell using this photoelectric conversion element, and a method for manufacturing a photoelectric conversion element including a step of applying a hole-transporting material solution and drying the solution at 40° C. to 180° C.