Photophysical properties of PMMA nanohybrids and their applications

The technical development of the fluorescent solar concentrators (FSCs) has been plagued by many problems in the past, including limited absorption of the solar spectrum; photodegradation of organic fluorescent dyes; fluorescence quenching at high dye concentrations due to the non- radiative energy transfer to dimers and the loss of about 25.78 % of the fluorescent photons out via the critical cones. This book proposed a number of concepts to overcome all the above limitations, including 1) the determination of the dimerization concentration of a coumarin derivative dye (MACROLEX Fluorescent Red G) in polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) thick- films, 2) modification of PMMA matrix by its hybridization with hydrophilic nanosilica , and 3) overdoping hybrid matrix with very high dye concentrations which revealed a remarkable shift of the dye dimerization threshold from 100 ppm for PMMA to 200 ppm for PMMA/ nanosilica matrix. All these information will finally be used to discuss and demonstrate the aspects of two promising implications regarding the application of FSCs in greenhouses and solar electricity conversion.