Engineered nanomaterials for solar energy conversion

Understanding how to engineer nanomaterials for targeted solar-cell applications is the key to improving their efficiency and could lead to breakthroughs in their design. Proposed mechanisms for the conversion of solar energy to electricity are those exploiting the particle nature of light in conventional photovoltaic cells, and those using the collective electromagnetic nature, where light is captured by antennas and rectified. In both cases, engineered nanomaterials form the crucial components. Examples include arrays of semiconductor nanostructures as an intermediate band (so called intermediate band solar cells), semiconductor nanocrystals for multiple exciton generation, or, in antenna–rectifier cells, nanomaterials for effective optical frequency rectification. Here, we discuss the state of the art in p–n junction, intermediate band, multiple exciton generation, and antenna–rectifier solar cells. We provide a summary of how engineered nanomaterials have been used in these systems and a discussion of the open questions.