Methods and apparatus using asphaltenes in solid-state organic solar cells

Abstract

Apparatus and methods are described using asphaltene and its derivatives as semi-conducting materials in photovoltaic cells. Asphaltene is used in an organic PV device as either or both of a p-type material and/or n-type material. The asphaltene-based material can be treated such as by de-metalization, metal addition, extraction, fractionation, and optimization of the asphaltene material. Treatment can be selected to create an asphaltene-based material having pre-selected characteristics, such as absorption value, reflectance, index of refraction, band gap, etc. The asphaltene-based materials can be blended or otherwise combined with inorganic or non-asphaltene organic materials. Further, asphaltene material can be used as an interfacial layer in the PV device.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.