Local researchers have made a breakthrough in the development of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC), improving energy conversion efficiency to a level that could not be achieved in the past 20 years, the National Science Council said yesterday.
By replacing the ruthenium-based dyes, generally used in DSSCs, with a modified porphyrin molecule, the team successfully pushed the energy conversion efficiency from 11 percent — the highest level achieved in the past two decades — to 13.1 percent, the council said at a press conference.
The achievement was published in Science magazine this month, it said, adding that the publication in the renowned magazine is an important milestone in the development of alternative energy sources.
The council-funded research team was led by National Chiao Tung University’s applied chemistry department professor Eric Diau (刁維光), Yeh Chen-yu (葉鎮宇) of National Chung Hsing University’s department of organic and material chemistry, in collaboration with Michael Graetzel of Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne in Switzerland.
Yeh said that the porphyrin molecule-based dye could be seen as artificial chlorophyll and was developed by mimicking the principles of solar energy and chemical conversion that photosynthesis in plants has successfully adopted over billions of years through evolution.
Taking into account the gradual depletion of petroleum-based fuels, pollution and safety concerns surrounding biomass and nuclear power and the rarity of ruthenium as an element in DSSCs, Yeh said the team’s achievement of DSSC with porphyrin molecule-based dye has the potential of becoming an important alternative energy source in the future.
In comparison with the so-called first and second generations of solar cells — silicon-based and thin film-based, respectively — Diau said the third generation of DSSC has the advantages of being low cost, highly efficient, simple in its manufacturing process, as well as being colorful, bendable and transparent.
In addition, Diau said, it could be easily applied to household electric appliances, such as remote controls, cellphone chargers and clocks, which only need low-voltage electricity. It could also be designed into art pieces because of its colorful features.
The team said it has applied for a patent on their invention and hopes to achieve a 15 percent energy conversion efficiency rate in future.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
RSS