Analogies between solar photochemical and photovoltaic energy conversion in molecular electronic materials
Jenny Nelson a, Drew Pearce a, Sam A. J. Hillman a, Daniel G. Medranda a
a Department of Physics, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Proceedings of MATSUS Fall 2025 Conference (MATSUSFall25)
E5 Emerging organic-based materials for Solar-driven fuel production - #EOSF
València, Spain, 2025 October 20th - 24th
Organizers: Soranyel Gonzalez Carrero and Filip Podjaski
Invited Speaker, Jenny Nelson, presentation 371
Publication date: 21st July 2025

Photochemical solar energy conversion in molecular electronic materials used as photocatalysts follows an analogous pathway to photovoltaic energy conversion in organic solar cells. In both cases generation of a localized excited state by photon absorption is followed by exciton dissociation to generate a sequence of charge separated species. However, whilst photovoltaic energy conversion is now relatively efficient, photochemical energy conversion using polymer photocatalysts involves significant energy losses. We will use a common framework to analyse the behaviour and performance of photovoltaic and photochemical energy conversion systems based on organic semiconductors. We use experimental measurements and simulation to investigate how chemical structure and environment influence the energy conversion process in a variety of model materials systems. We will attempt to identify the factors limiting photochemical energy conversion in these sytems.

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