Utilizing host-guest interaction enables the simultaneous enhancement of the quantum yield and Stokes shift in organosilane-functionalized, nitrogen-containing carbon dots for laminated luminescent solar concentrators

摘要

Solar energy can be harvested using luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) incorporated with edge-mounted solar cells without sacrificing their see-through visibility, thus facilitating the development of solar windows. Eco-friendly carbon dots (CDs) are promising alternatives to heavy-metal-containing quantum dots in LSC applications. Unfortunately, their solid-state quantum yield (QY) at high optical density (required by laminated LSCs) is still low (60%) and large Stokes shifts (>200 nm) even at a high loading content (similar to 10 wt%), while still exhibiting high optical transparency. Moreover, unlike conventional QY reduction upon increasing the excitation wavelengths, such high QY values can be maintained over all excitation wavelengths in the absorption region. Benefiting from these photophysical properties, efficient laminated LSCs were simply prepared, yielding a high optical efficiency of similar to 4.4%.