Organic materials for enhanced intramolecular singlet fission

This technology provides compounds and materials that are capable of quantitative intramolecular singlet fission.

Unmet Need: Materials allowing for increased solar energy conversion efficiency

Materials currently utilized in solar power technologies only allow for limited efficiency in solar energy-to-electricity conversion. One promising way to overcome this limit is through singlet fission, a process where one absorbed photon is converted to two energetic triplet excitons to allow for a two-for-one transaction on the amount of electricity produced relative to the amount of light put in. Singlet fission would allow for increased efficiency in solar energy-to-electricity conversion, thereby creating significantly more efficient solar cells. Currently, only crustal aggregates can be used in singlet fission, which severely limits the potential for use in solar cells.

The Technology: Organic molecule which can undergo singlet fission

This technology provides compounds and materials that are capable of multiple exciton generation for providing efficient intramolecular fission. The materials used in this technology include organic oligomers and polymers that are designed to exhibit strong intra-chain donor-acceptor interactions and provide intramolecular singlet fission, enabling triplet populations to be generated in very high yields. As a result, this technology provides a method for efficient intramolecular fission, making local order and strong nearest neighbor coupling no longer a design constraint.

This technology has been validated to demonstrate intramolecular singlet fission with high triplet yields.

Applications:

• Use in solar cells for increased electricity production efficiency
• Photodetectors for enhanced quantum yield
• Hybrid photovoltaic devices
• Nanoparticle/quantum dot devices
• Fission sensitizer in inorganic applications

Advantages:

• Increased electricity production efficiency
• Works on an intramolecular basis
• Can be incorporated into solution-processed manufacturing techniques
• Enhanced yield

Lead Inventor:

Luis M. Campos, Ph.D.

Patent Information:

Patent Issued

Related Publications:

• Sanders SN, Kumarasamy E, Pun AB, Trinh MT, Choi B, Xia J, Taffet EJ, Low JZ, Miller JR, Roy X, Zhu XY, Steigerwald ML, Sfeir MY, Campos LM. “Quantitative intramolecular singlet fission in bipentacenes” J Am Chem Soc. 2015 Jun; 137(28): 8965-8972.

Tech Ventures Reference:

• IR CU15145, CU14235, CU17103

• Licensing Contact: Greg Maskel