The flexible solar panel includes a polymer matrix and a plant extract incorporated in the polymer matrix. The plant extract can be an extract of chard (B. vulgaris subsp. cicla) including an organic dye. The plant extract can include chloroplasts. The polymer matrix may be formed from either poly(vinyl alcohol) or polystyrene. The flexible solar panel can be green.

The dye-sensitized solar panel includes a metal oxide layer and an organic photosensitizing dye on the metal oxide layer. The organic photosensitizing dye is extracted from chard (B. vulgaris subsp. cicla), and the metal oxide layer is composed of zinc oxide nanoparticles synthesized using B. vulgaris subsp. cicla dye as a reducing agent. A working electrode is mounted on a first transparent substrate. The working electrode includes a metal electrode and the metal oxide layer formed thereon. A counter electrode is mounted on a second transparent substrate. An electrolyte is sandwiched between the working electrode and the counter electrode.

The present invention is a photovoltaic-thermoelectric solar cell and a method of manufacturing a photovoltaic-thermoelectric solar cell. The solar cell includes a substantially transparent electrode, an organometallic photovoltaic material disposed on the transparent electrode, and a cathode disposed on the organometallic photovoltaic material. The organometallic photovoltaic material may be a porphyrin nanomaterial.

A electrochemical reaction device of an embodiment includes: an electrolytic tank storing an electrolytic solution containing water; a fine bubble supply part which supplies fine bubbles containing carbon dioxide into the electrolytic solution; a reduction electrode which is immersed in the electrolytic solution and reduces the carbon dioxide to generate a carbon compound; an oxidation electrode which is immersed in the electrolytic solution and oxidizes the water to generate oxygen; and a photoelectric conversion body electrically connected to the reduction electrode and the oxidation electrode. The fine bubbles have a floating velocity of 10 mm/s or less in the electrolytic solution under an atmospheric pressure and 20° C. condition.

Photovoltaic devices such as solar cells, hybrid solar cell-batteries, and other such devices may include an active layer disposed between two electrodes. The active layer may have perovskite material and other material such as mesoporous material, interfacial layers, thin-coat interfacial layers, and combinations thereof. The perovskite material may be photoactive. The perovskite material may be disposed between two or more other materials in the photovoltaic device. Inclusion of these materials in various arrangements within an active layer of a photovoltaic device may improve device performance. Other materials may be included to further improve device performance, such as, for example: additional perovskites, and additional interfacial layers.

An electrochemical reaction device includes: an electrolytic solution tank including a first storage part storing a first electrolytic solution and a second storage part storing a second electrolytic solution; a reduction electrode immersed in the first electrolytic solution; and an oxidation electrode immersed in the second electrolytic solution. The second electrolytic solution contains a substance to be oxidized. The first electrolytic solution has a first liquid phase containing water and a second liquid phase containing an organic solvent and being in contact with the first liquid phase. At least one liquid phase of the first liquid phase or the second liquid phase contains a substance to be reduced and is in contact with the reduction electrode.

Metal oxide nanostructure and methods of making metal oxide nanostructures are provided. The metal oxide nanostructures can be 1-dimensional nanostructures such as nanowires, nanofibers, or nanotubes. The metal oxide nanostructures can be doped or un-doped metal oxides. The metal oxide nanostructures can be deposited onto a variety of substrates. The deposition can be performed without high pressures and without the need for seed catalysts on the substrate. The deposition can be performed by laser ablation of a target including a metal oxide and, optionally, a dopant. In some embodiments zinc oxide nanostructures are deposited onto a substrate by pulsed laser deposition of a zinc oxide target using an excimer laser emitting UV radiation. The zinc oxide nanostructure can be doped with a rare earth metal such as gadolinium. The metal oxide nanostructures can be used in many devices including light-emitting diodes and solar cells.

Disclosed is a semiconductor-liquid junction based photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell for the unassisted solar splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen gas, the solar-driven reduction of CO.sub.2 to higher-order hydrocarbons, and the solar-driven synthesis of NH.sub.3. The disclosed system can employ a photocathode based upon wurtzite hexagonal semiconductors that can be tailored with proper band alignment for the redox potentials for water, CO.sub.2 reduction, and NH.sub.3 production, and with bandgap energy for maximum solar absorption. The design maximizes the carrier collection efficiency by leveraging spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization in these materials systems to generate hot electrons within the photocathode. These electrons have sufficient excess energy, preserved at a designed energy capture region, to overcome the kinetic overpotential (surface chemistry limitation) required for the reactions to occur at a high rate.

The present invention provides compositions comprising a metal oxide electrode, a passivating agent on its surface, and a hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite active layer in contact with the metal oxide electrode surface. The presence of a passivating agent on the metal oxide surface increases stability and/or photovoltaic power conversion efficiency of the electronic component comprising a composition of the invention.

Methods and devices for forming painted circuits using multiple layers of electrically conductive paint. In one aspect, a painted circuit includes a substrate (111) and one or more paint layer (106, 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 120, 122) applied to the substrate, where the one or more paint layers each form an electrical component of the painted circuit. A given paint layer of the one or more paint layers includes a conductive paint formulation having a resistance that is defined by a concentration of conductive material that is included in the conductive paint formulation and a thickness of the given paint layer, and lower concentrations of the conductive material included in the conductive paint formulation provide a higher resistance than higher concentrations of conductive material.