Europium complex doped luminescent solar concentrators with extended absorption range from UV to visible region

In this paper, a europium complex, Eu(TTA)3Dpbt (TTA = thenoyltrifluoroacetonate, Dpbt = 2-(N,N-diethylanilin-4-yl)-4,6-bis(3,5-dimethylpyrazol-1-yl)-1,3,5-triazine), with extended absorption range is incorporated into polyvinyl-butyral (PVB) to fabricate luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) on the face of K9 glass. This kind of LSC can absorb the light in the UV and the blue region and is free of self-absorption. External quantum efficiency of the LSC is measured at different wavelength. Under a solar simulator (AM1.5G), efficiency of Eu(TTA)3Dpbt doped LSC is 11% higher than that of Eu(TTA)3Phen doped LSC (0.176%), resulting from the absorption of Eu(TTA)3Phen which is limited within UV region. It can be seen from this result that extending absorption region of lanthanide complexes can be used to further enhance efficiency of lanthanide complex doped LSC, besides these complexes are without self-absorption because of their large Stokes shift.

► Luminescent solar concentrator (LSC) with visible and UV light absorbed Eu complex are prepared.
► Spectroscopy properties of Eu doped LSCs demonstrate there is no self-absorption.
► External quantum efficiencies are measured and compared with the estimated value.
► I–V characteristics reveal efficiency of LSC is enlarged by extending the absorption spectrum.