Photovoltaic cell
View Patent ↗A photovoltaic cell has two electrodes and a hole injection layer. A liquid crystal material and a plurality of particles can be disposed between the electrodes.
1. A discotic nematic liquid crystal (LC) material, comprising:
a discotic nematic LC compound comprising:
a central moiety comprising a moiety selected from the group consisting of
a plurality of electroactive arms extending outward from the central moiety, each arm comprising a plurality of cyclic groups, at least one of which comprising a thiophene ring.
2. The discotic nematic LC material of claim 1 , wherein the central moiety comprises a plurality of fused aromatic rings.
3. The discotic nematic LC material of claim 1 , wherein at least some of the cyclic groups comprise a sulphoxide group.
4. The discotic nematic LC material of claim 1 , wherein the central moiety is free of metal.
5. The discotic nematic LC material of claim 1 , further comprising an amount of a photoactive binder blended and in electrical communication with the discotic menatic LC compound.
6. The discotic nematic LC material of claim 5 , wherein the photoactive binder comprises a polythiophene compound.
7. The discotic nematic LC material of claim 1 , wherein the central moiety comprises at least 3 fused rings, each of the fused rings comprising 6 carbon atoms.
8. The discotic nematic LC material of claim 7 , wherein the central moiety comprises at least 4 heterocyclic rings, each heterocyclic ring being fused to one of the 3fused rings and comprising a sulfur atom.
9. A photovoltaic cell comprising the discotic nematic LC material of claim 1 .
10. The photovoltaic cell of claim 9 , further comprising a plurality of nanorods each having a major axis, the discotic nematic LC material defining a director, the major axis of the nanorods and the director being substantially aligned.
11. The discotic nematic LC material of claim 1 , wherein each electroactive arm comprises at least two thiophene ring.
12. The discotic nematic LC material of claim 1 , wherein each electroactive arm comprises at least three thiophene ring.
13. The discotic nematic LC material of claim 1 , wherein each electroactive arm comprises at least one unit containing a 5-membered ring fused with a 6-membered ring.
14. The nematic LC material of claim 13 , wherein the at least one unit comprises a benzothiadiazole group.
15. The discotic nematic LC material of claim 1 , wherein the discotic nematic LC compound is
16. The discotic nematic LC material of claim 1 , wherein the discotic nematic LC compound is
17. The discotic nematic LC material of claim 1 , wherein the discotic nematic LC compound is
18. The discotic nematic LC material of claim 1 , wherein the discotic nematic LC compound is
19. The discotic nematic LC material of claim 1 , wherein the discotic nematic LC compound is