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Journal of Chemical Technology and Applications | Volume 2
Annual Spring Conference and Expo on
April 04-05, 2018 | Miami, USA
Chemical Engineering: From
Materials Engineering to Nanotechnology
allied
academies
G
iven the sustainable, clean, and abundant nature of
solar energy, studies on photovoltaic devices for energy
conversion to electric energy have been extensive. However,
due to large variation of the solar energy availability in a day,
energy storage is required in many applications when solar
cells are used. Conventionally, the harvested energy is stored
in an external device (i.e. batteries or supercapacitors) which
adds substantially to the costs of solar energy systems,
requires additional charging circuitry, and needs regular
maintenance and replacement. The result is a relatively
expensive and bulky system that is not ideal, particularly
for portable, off-grid applications. Recently, we have found
that a combination of a conducting polymer (PEDOT:PSS)
and a photoactive material can be used as an electrode in a
photoelectrochemical cell to generate electric charge from
solar energy and store the charge in the device. The structure
of the device is very similar to a supercapacitor, while the
conducting polymer-dye composite film behaves likes a
photoactive electrode. The device is able to generate up to
0.49 V under the open circuit conditions upon AM1.0 solar
radiation. A charge stability (in dark) of more than 2 hours
has been achieved after charging the device with light for
20 min. The organic photoactive supercapacitor can deliver
currents up to 0.12 mA/cm
2
. The electrochemical study
suggests a photoelectrochemical reaction at the composite
film. Hence, the charge storage is likely due to the change in
the polymer oxidation state.
Speaker Biography
Dr. Arash Takshi is an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and a faculty affiliate
in the Clean Energy Research Center (CERC) at the University of South Florida. Before
joining USF, Dr. Takshi was working as a Research Assistant at the University of Maryland,
where he collaborated with a research group to develop an energy harvesting system
for wireless sensors. From 2007 to 2009, he was a Research Scientist at the University
of British Columbia, working on the development of Organic/Bio photovoltaic devices.
Dr. Takshi has more than forty publications in scientific journals and ten pending and
granted patents. Dr. Takshi’s research group at USF was established in fall 2010. His
group is active in the field of advanced energy materials, using conducting polymers,
nanomaterials (Ag NW, Zn O NW, TiO2 nanoparticle, graphene), and biomaterials (i.e.,
proteins) for energy conversion and storage in electrical devices such as solar cells
and supercapacitors. His research activities cover from materials synthesis/process to
device fabrication/characterization/optimization.
e:
atakshi@usf.eduConcurrent energy harvesting and charge storage using conducting polymer composites
Arash Takshi
University of South Florida, USA