Genetically engineered viruses can control the arrangement of carbon nanotubes for better solar cells.
A team led by MIT’s Angela Belcher, W. M. Keck Professor of Energy, and her graduate students Xiangnan Dang and Hyunjung Yi, used a genetically engineered version of a virus called M13 to control the arrangement of semiconducting carbon nanotubes, making them more efficient in moving electrons in dye-sensitized photovoltaics.
The team added a water-soluble process to the manufacturing of the photovoltaics.
The technique was able to raise the efficiency in the photovoltaics from 8 percent to 10.6 percent.
The virus binds the nanotubes in place, then an acidic compound is added to the liquid containing the virus and nanotubes and it grows a titanium dioxide (Ti02) compound close to the nanotubes.
The technique uses a natural mechanism to regulate charge, mimicking biological processes.
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