25th Anniversary Article: Organic Photovoltaic Modules and Biopolymer Supercapacitors for Supply of Renewable Electricity: A Perspective from Africa

Abstract

The role of materials in civilization is well demonstrated over the centuries and millennia, as materials have come to serve as the classifier of stages of civilization. With the advent of materials science, this relation has become even more pronounced. The pivotal role of advanced materials in industrial economies has not yet been matched by the influence of advanced materials during the transition from agricultural to modern societies. The role of advanced materials in poverty eradication can be very large, in particular if new trajectories of social and economic development become possible. This is the topic of this essay, different in format from the traditional scientific review, as we try to encompass not only two infant technologies of solar energy conversion and storage by means of organic materials, but also the social conditions for introduction of the technologies. The development of organic-based photovoltaic energy conversion has been rapid, and promises to deliver new alternatives to well-established silicon photovoltaics. Our recent development of organic biopolymer composite electrodes opens avenues towards the use of renewable materials in the construction of wooden batteries or supercapacitors for charge storage. Combining these new elements may give different conditions for introduction of energy technology in areas now lacking electrical grids, but having sufficient solar energy inputs. These areas are found close to the equator, and include some of the poorest regions on earth.

Conductivity Enhancement of PEDOT:PSS Films via Phosphoric Acid Treatment for Flexible All-Plastic Solar Cells

“…[1][2][3][4][5] Most of organic solar cells reported in the literature are fabricated on indium tin oxide (ITO) glass substrates and with vacuum-deposited metals used as the top electrodes. However, the problems that ITO possesses high mechanically brittleness and high price limit its application to the flexible organic solar cells.…”

Highly Stable and Efficient Lignin‐PEDOT/PSS Composites for Removal of Toxic Metals

“…By comparing the CVs of PEDOT/PSS and PEDOT/PSS/LG in 0.1 m NaCl supporting electrolyte (Figure 1a,b), respectively, the characteristic redox peaks in the anodic region for the reduction and oxidation of the quinone functional groups in the lignin confirm the incorporation of the biopolymer lignin inside the conducting polymer PEDOT/PSS. [31] Furthermore, the electrochemical behavior of lead ions in the two films were compared in Figure 1c,d.…”

“…[28] Apart from earlier reports in the 1990s [29] and our recent report, [30] the potential application of electrochemically assisted removal of heavy metals using electrodes of conducting polymers was not thoroughly investigated. On the other hand, our group [31] and others [32] studied the potential application of conducting polymer composites for energy storages such as supercapacitors and batteries.…”

Electrochemical synthesis and characterization of bilayers of poly(O-aminophenol)/ polypyrrole/lignin composites for enhanced charge storage in supercapacitors

“…There is a growing interest in finding cheap, scalable and efficient energy storage materials for use in electrochemical technologies like supercapacitors (SCs), batteries and fuel cells since renewable energy conversion technologies like solar and wind are intermittent [1][2][3]. Recently, SCs are attracting great attention due to the increasing demand of a new kind of electrical power source having high specific power and long durability [4].…”

“…SCs can be classified into two groups, as electrical double layer capacitors (EDLCs) and pseudo-capacitors or redox capacitors. EDLCs store energy through the accumulation of charges at the electrode-electrolyte interface, while redox capacitors store energy as a result of very fast faradaic redox reactions involving the passage of charge across the double layer during charging and discharging [1]. High surface area carbons and nanostructured conducting materials like TiO 2 nanotubes are some examples of materials used for EDLC.…”