Filled with suitable organic polymers the highly porous germanium nanofilm becomes a hybrid solar cell - Photo: Andreas Battenberg
Using a new procedure researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Ludwig Maximillians University of Munich (LMU) can now produce extremely thin and robust, yet highly porous semiconductor layers. A very promising material - for small, light-weight, flexible solar cells, for example, or electrodes improving the performance of rechargeable batteries. The coating on the wafer that Professor Thomas Fässler , chair of Inorganic Chemistry with a Focus on Novel Materials at TU Munich, holds in his hands glitters like an opal. And it has amazing properties: It is hard as a crystal, exceptionally thin and - since it is highly porous - light as a feather. By integrating suitable organic polymers into the pores of the material, the scientists can custom tailor the electrical properties of the ensuing hybrid material. The design not only saves space, it also creates large interface surfaces that improve overall effectiveness. "You can imagine our raw material as a porous scaffold with a structure akin to a honeycomb.
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