Photosynthetic Protein-based Photovoltaics

Ever since the discovery of the photoelectric effect, researchers have been trying to improve the efficiency of converting sunlight into electricity through photovoltaic devices. Photosynthetic organisms provide clues for harvesting sunlight and storing the energy in chemical forms. This book offers a concise overview of the fundamental concepts of photosynthesis and the emerging photovoltaic technologies, casting light on the symbiotic relation between these spheres of science.

Although there are many books about the fundamentals of photosynthesis and the various aspects of the photosynthetic processes, this is the first volume to focus on the prospects of studying the photosynthetic proteins, understanding and applying their properties to design prospective solar energy conversion devices that are sustainable and efficient. All in all, the book aims to bring together the present know-how on organic photovoltaics and dye-sensitized solar cells with that of the emerging bio-photovoltaics and the underlying physics of photosynthesis to foster a more eclectic research that would converge towards a sustainable energy technology for the future.

The book mainly serves as a bridge to connect biochemists, who study photosynthetic proteins, and physicists and engineers who design and develop photovoltaic devices. Scientists, engineers and students in the fields of photosynthetic research and solar energy research can use this book as a ready reference.

Key selling features:

• Covers both methods and bio-based materials needed to build bio-based photovoltaics
• Focuses on both techniques and applications
• Summarizes the advantages and limitations of various techniques
• Contributors from multiple disciplines integrate the knowledge of photosynthetic proteins and the physics/engineering of photovoltaic devices.
• Includes adaptive designs and techniques used in other types of solar cells to for the design of protein-based PVs

Swee Ching Tan received his bachelor’s degree in

Physics from the National University of Singapore

(NUS). He then worked for Hewlett Packard

Singapore and Ireland as a laser process and equipment

engineer to develop new technologies for silicon

micromachining. At Hewlett Packard, he made

two major contributions that helped the company to

achieve major cost-cutting goals and to increase the

throughput within his department. He was honored

with the Award for Outstanding Achievement for

these contributions to the company. He subsequently

gained PhD admission to the University of

Cambridge’s Electrical Engineering Department

with scholarships from Cambridge Commonwealth Trust and the Wingate

Foundation. His PhD work, under the supervision of Professor Sir Mark Welland,

involved using photosynthetic proteins as light-absorbing materials for solar cells.

After completing his PhD, Dr. Tan moved to the Department of Materials Science

and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to become a postdoctoral

associate working on nanoelectronics. He is currently an assistant professor in

the Department of Materials Science and Engineering with NUS Faculty of

Engineering.

Dr. Tan’s research interests span a wide range of areas in the fields of energy

and environmental sciences. The area of biohybrid photovoltaics is a core expertise

of his research lab with a number of new device architectures developed in recent

years. Dr. Tan’s research group has achieved breakthrough energy-harvesting performances

using natural and engineered photoproteins. His research group is also

working on developing organic ionic conductors and work-function engineering for

applications in energy harvesting and photosensing electronic devices. Bridging the

spheres of energy and environment sciences, the research group is also focusing

on developing low-energy and low-cost air filtration and thermal comfort technologies.

By engineering super-hygroscopic materials and hierarchically structured solar

absorbers, the research team led by Dr. Tan aims to develop clean water technologies

that could generate potable water not only from seawater but also out of humid air.