Nanotechnology and its

application in renewable energy

Dr. Prem Felix Siril
School of Basic Sciences
IIT Mandi

Sustainable energy challenge!

A major technological challenge for human race in 21st
century is the transition from fossil-fuel-based energy
economy to renewable (sustainable) energy one.
Collective energy demand of the planet is predicted to be
doubled by the mid of 21st century and to be tripled by the
end of this century.
There is a urgent need to develop CO2- neutral energy
sources.
The sustainable energy alternatives should be cost
effective.

Why there is a buzz about nano?!

Definition of nanotechnology.
What properties of nanomaterials make them
attractive??
Energy application of nanomaterials.

Nanotechnology is the creation of USEFUL/FUNCTIONAL

materials, devices and systems (of any useful size) through
control/manipulation of matter on the 1-100 nanometer length scale
and exploitation of novel phenomena and properties which
arise because of the nanometer length scale:
Nanometer
One billionth (10-9) of a meter
Hydrogen atom 0.04 nm
Proteins ~ 1-20 nm
Feature size of computer chips 90 nm
(in 2005)
Diameter of human hair ~ 10 m

Physical
Chemical
Electrical
Mechanical
Optical
Magnetic

FACTS & FIGURES ABOUT NANOTECHNOLOGY

More than 1000 nano based consumer products are
available in the market.
Nanotechnology will generate $2.5 trillion in 2015.
Governments and companies are spending billions of
dollars every year on nanotechnology.
A large number of academic institutions are offering
specialised courses in nanomaterials and
nanotechnology.

Source: www.technologyreview.com/spotlight

Trends in research publications in nano

http://www.nature.com/nnano/nanofacts/index.html

Unique Properties of Nanoscale

Materials

Quantum size effects (atomic level of matter) result in unique

mechanical, electronic, photonic, and magnetic properties of
nanoscale materials

Chemical reactivity of nanoscale materials greatly different from

more macroscopic form, e.g., gold

Vastly increased surface area per unit mass, e.g., upwards of

1000 m2 per gram

New chemical formation , e.g., fullerenes, nanotubes of carbon,

titanium oxide, zinc oxide, other layered compounds

The melting point of gold particles decreases dramatically as

the particle size gets below 5 nm

Note: For nanoparticles embedded in a matrix, melting point may be lower or higher,
depending on the strength of the interaction between the particle and matrix.

Unique properties (quantom size effects) of

nanomaterials depends on both size and
shape

50 nm

Gold nanorods photochemically

synthesized using CTAB

Effect of the rod length on the

absorption spectrum
F. Kim et al., JACS, 2002, 124, 14316

Nanotechnology - Promises
Benefits already observed from the design of
nanotechnology based products for renewable
energy are:
An increased efficiency of lighting and heating
Increased electrical storage capacity.
A decrease in the amount of pollution from the
use of energy

Spectrum of opportunities for nano

Workshop on Nanotechnologies for Thermal and Solar Energy
Conversion and Storage, August 10,11, 2008, Jacksonville, FL
Nanoscale design to enable
the revolution in renewable
energy J. Baxter, Z. Bian, G.
Chen, D. Danielson, M.S.
Dresselhaus, A.G. Fedorov, T.S.
Fisher, C.W. Jones, E. Maginn, U.
Kortshagen, A. Manthiram, A.
Nozik, D.R. Rolison, T. Sands, L.
Shi, D. Sholl and Y. Wuo, Energy
& Environmental Science 2
(2009) 559-588.
Portfolio of
solar/thermal/electrochemical
energy conversion, storage, and
conservation technologies, and
their interactions

The solid-state part of the solution

More efficient devices for
LED-based lighting
Thermoelectric refrigeration
Thermoelectric and thermophotovoltaic conversion of
waste heat
Photovoltaic conversion of solar energy and production of
hydrogen

Added benefits

Compact
Robust
Low environmental impact
Nanostructured semiconductors?
Challenges
Thin films instead of bulk?
Efficiency breakthroughs needed!
Bottom-up nanofabrication?
Availability and price of raw materials
Manufacturing costs

Solid state lighting the opportunity

Electricity generation accounts for about 37% of primary energy
consumption in the U.S.
Lighting accounts for 22% of the nations electric power usage.
The DoE SSL Goal: a solid-state lamp that is more efficient, longer
lasting and cost competitive compared to conventional technologies,
targeting a system efficiency of 50% and the color quality of sunlight.
Implications of Success: 33% reduction in energy consumed for
lighting by 2025, eliminating need for 41 1000MW power plants, and
saving consumers $128 B+.

LEDs the technological discontinuity

III-V LEDs cover the visible spectrum,
but not with one materials system

Low cost solution:

Blue (In,Ga)N LED with
partially absorbing yellow
phosphor
Limitations: poor color
rendering, low efficiency due
to Stokes shift

Warm light solution:

Board-level integration of
(In,Ga)N/yellow phosphor
and (Al,Ga,In)P red LEDs
Limitations: green gap,
high cost of assembly
Compound Semiconductor, June 2008, pg. 17

Thermoelectrics Devices
I
I

I
N

Diffusion

Hot Side

Cold Side

Power Generation
Figure of Merit:
Electrical
Conductivity

ZT =

Seebeck
Coefficient
2

S T
ke + kp

Electron
Phonon
Thermal Conductivity

COLD SIDE

HOT SIDE

Refrigeration
Power Generation:
T(hot)=500 C, T (cold)=50 C
ZT=1, Efficiency = 8 %
ZT=3, Efficiency =17 %
ZT=5, Efficiency =22 %

Critical Challenges:
Reduce phonon heat conduction while
maintaining or enhancing electron transport

Waste heat factoids

>60% of primary energy consumed is dissipated as waste heat

Energy costs account for approximately 8~12% of the total cost of
glass production, and about 15% for steel*
The worlds data centers are projected to surpass the airline industry
as a greenhouse gas polluter by 2020**
About 40 percent of the energy content of gasoline burned in
automobile IC engines is lost as exhaust heat and another 30 percent
is lost through engine cooling***

www.greencarcongre
ss.com/thermoelectri
cs
*http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/program_areas/industries.html
**Study by McKinsey & Co., Green Enterprise Computing Symposium in Orlando, Fla., May 1, 2008
***http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/12/researchers-eye-exhaust-for-fuel/?page=2

www.eere.doe.gov

Nanotechnology in Thermoelectrics

FIGURE OF MERIT (ZT)

max

3.0

PbTe/PbSeTe Nano

PbSeTe/PbTe
Quantum-dot
Superlattices
(Lincoln Lab)

S2 (W/cmK2)
k (W/mK)

AgPbmSbTe2+m
(Kanatzadis)

1.5
1.0

Bi2Te3/Sb2Te3
Superlattices
(RTI)
Bi2Te3 alloy
PbTe alloy

0.5
0.0
1940

Si0.8Ge0.2 alloy
1960

1980
YEAR

Skutterudites
(Fleurial)

Dresselhaus
2000

28
2.5

ZT (T=300K)
1.6
0.3
Harman et al., Science (2003)

2.5
2.0

32
0.6

Bulk

2020

Bi2Te3/Sb2Te3

Nano

Bulk

S2 (W/cmK2)
k (W/mK)

40
0.6

50.9
1.45

ZT (T=300K)
2.4
1.0
Venkatasubramanian et al.,
Nature, 2002.

Potential Applications
Transportation

Mechanical losses
9kJ

Exhaust
Gasoline
100 kJ
Gasoline
100kJ10kJ

Mechanical losses
10kJ

9kJ
30kJ
30kJ

6kJ
10kJ
35kJ
35kJ

6kJ

Driving
Driving
Auxiliary
Auxiliary

10kJ

Parasitic
heat losses Coolant
Parasitic
heat losses Coolant

Oil or
Oil or
Natl Gas
Natl Gas

Exhaust
Exhaust

Entropy
Entropy
Losses
Thermal
Heating
Thermal
PowerPower Heating
TPV & TE Recovery

Refrigeration
Refrigeration
& &
Electrical
Electrical
Power Power
Appliances
Appliances
Electricity
Electricity

PV

In US,
transportation
uses ~26% of
total energy.
10% energy
conversion
efficiency
= 26% increase
in useful energy

Residential
In US, residential
and commercial
buildings consume
~35% energy supply

Energy from the Sun is

Solar power
Abundant
systems installed
in the areas
defined by the
dark disks could
meet the world's
current total
energy demand

Source: http://www.ez2c.de/ml/solar_land_area/

Solar Panel Use Today

Large companies like
Google, Walmart, and
Microsoft use solar
energy to partially
power some of their
facilities

Solar panels on Microsoft building

Sources: http://i.n.com.com/i/ne/p/2006/IMG_5396_550x367.jpg
http://www.solarwall.de/assets/images/Walmart_SW.jpg

Solar panels being tested

on Walmart store

Photovoltaic Solar Cells

Generate electricity directly
from sunlight
2 Main types:
Single-crystal silicon
(traditional)

Silicon-based
solar cell

Widespread
Expensive to manufacture

Dye-sensitized (nano)
Newer, less proven
Inexpensive to manufacture
Flexible

Dye-sensitized
solar cell

Nanotechnology solution for SPVs

Problem: Fast energy los by hot carriers
Hot carriers are produced when solar photons with
energy significantly higher than the band gap of the
semiconductor is absorbed. Excess energy leads to
lattice vibrations and thus affects the efficiency.

Solution 1: Use of Si nanocrystals with different

band gap values to capture the full solar
spectrum
Solution 2: Use of quantum confined
nanocrystals to generate multi-exciton
generation

Nanotechnology solution for SPVs

contd..
Organic dye sensitized solar cells
Charge-carrier recombination problem can be
addressed by using nanoparticle
/nanostructures.
Carrier collection efficiency can be improved by
using one dimensional nanostructures such as
nanowires and nanotubes.
Nanotechnology may provide routes for cost
reduction by using thin films.

Solar-photcatalysis: Solar Fuels

Hydrogen from solar water splitting
Photoreduction of CO2 with water to form
hydrocarbon (methane, methanol etc.)
This approach is very interesting as using CO2
as a raw material to produce hydrocarbon
fuels just by using sun light.
Negative CO2 foot print
Not only interesting from the environment
point of view, but also from the point of view of
sustainable transportation using the existing
infratructture for fuel distribution

Nanomaterials in solar photcatalysis

TiO2 nanoparticles are used in solar water
splitting
Increasing the efficiency of the process is
a main challenge
Oxynitride of TiO2 (TiO2-xNx) is a better
alternative
Nanosized TiO2-xNx can absorb in the visible
region

Fuel Cells
Despite the huge advantages, their
commercialisation is hampered by:
High cost
Durability issues
Operatability issues

Solutions for some these bottlenecks will be

from nanotechnology
Eg: Replacing Pt catalysts with some cheaper
material in low temperature fuel cells

Challenges to Fuel Cell Technology

Hydrogen Storage

Catalytic nanostructured
hydrogen storage materials

Mass transport
Heat transfer (intake and release)
Small scale thermodynamics
Two phase flow
Multiscale and multiphysics

Energy Applications: Conversion, Generation and Storage

Cold

Metal organic
framework for
hydrogen storage

Hot
2 m

I
Dresselhaus group, MIT

Replace conventional
material with nanocomposite
to enhance performance

Abramson et al, JMEMS, in review.

Rosi et al, Science, Vol. 300, pp. 1127
-1129 (2003).