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Wednesday, 9th September 2009 (2446 views)

Gold has been used in a new scientific process that could pave the way for the development of nanocrystal solar cells crucial for the production of clean and renewable liquid car fuels.

Researchers at the US department of energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory fabricated the gold electrical contacts for nanocrystals of the semiconductor cadium-selenide using direct solution phase-growth, Nanowerk reports.

Unlike standard methods for attaching metal tips to nanocrystals, which can cause chemical reactions, the solution-grown gold tips produce an "abrupt nanocrystal-metal contact" that preserves the "intrinsic semiconductor character of the starting nanocrystal", the lab's interim director Paul Alivisatos said.

The gold tips were found to increase the electrical conductivity of the nanocrystals by 100,000 times, opening up the possibility of the materials being used in solar cells that could generate the electricity needed to split water molecules to create alternative fuels.

Nanowerk said that with global energy demand expected to more than double by 2050, the development of such sustainable and carbon-neutral technologies will be essential.

The Berkeley Lab was founded in California in 1927.

 

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