Integrating Photosystem I (PSI) and Organic Solar Cells for a Sustainable Future

Research question

Photovoltaics is a key technology for generation of renewable energy. We will investigate if the performance of organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells be improved by incorporation of photosystem I (PS I), a protein complex involved in photosynthesis, into the active layer. PS I is a complex molecular machine that under sunlight can generate free electrons and is hence of interest as a material for OPVs. We will fabricate PS I-OPVs by solution based low energy consumption processing, characterize the performance and search for key parameters influencing device efficiency and stability. 

Sustainability aspects

PS I can be isolated from plants and algae and is a good example of a readily available and renewable material with a highly complex function. If photovoltaic technology can be developed by utilizing such structures, it may be possible to reduce our dependence on rare elements. Moreover, materials such as PS I are processable from solution (and do not require high temperature processing) meaning that devices can be prepared with low energy input.