There’s a new use for unwanted Blu-ray discs; as a tool to make more efficient solar cells.
Researchers used the quasi-random, nanoscale pattern of islands and pits on the surface of a discarded Blu-ray disc as a mould to shape the surface of a polymer solar cell. The nanoscale pattern increased the efficiency with which the cell captured photons by more than 20 per cent compared with unpatterned surfaces.
The technique is much cheaper than current methods for patterning the surface of polymer solar cells.
Original research paper published by Nature Communications on November 25, 2014.
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