Solar Energy Conversion Chemical Aspects

Here, Prof Likhtenshtein, an experienced author and internationally renowned scientist, considers different physical and engineering aspects in solar energy conversion from a chemists point of view. From theory to real-life systems, he shows exactly which chemical reactions take place when converting light energy. An essential guide for researchers in academia and industry working on solar energy conversion.

Gertz I. Likhtenshtein received his PhD and his doctor of science from the Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics at the Russian Academy of Science in Moscow, where he was appointed to the position of Head of Laboratory of Chemical Physics of Enzyme Catalysis in 1965, becoming a professor in 1976.

In 1992 he moved to the Department of Chemistry at the Ben-Gurion University of Negev, Israel, as a full professor in charge of the Laboratory of Chemical Biophysics and has been an emeritus since 2003. He has authored nine scientific books and around 380 papers, and his many awards include the Medal of the Exhibition of Economic Achievement, the Diploma of Discovery, the USSR State Prize, the V.V. Voevodsky
International Price for Chemical Physics and the Diploma of the Israel Chemical Society. Professor Likhtenshtein is a member of the International ESR Society, the American Biophysical Society, the Israel Chemical Society and the Israel ESR Society.

His main scientific interests focus on antioxidants analysis and mechanisms of light energy conversion.

PREFACE

ELECTRON TRANSFER THEORIES
Introduction
Theoretical Models
Concerted and Multielectron Processes

PRINCIPAL STAGES OF PHOTOSYNTHETIC LIGHT ENERGY CONVERSION
Introduction
Light-Harvesting Antennas
Reaction Center of Photosynthetic Bacteria
Reaction Centers of Photosystems I and II
Water Oxidation System

PHOTOCHEMICAL SYSTEMS OF THE LIGHT ENERGY CONVERSION
Introduction
Charge Separation in Donor?Acceptor Pairs
Electron Flow through Proteins

REDOX PROCESSES ON SURFACE OF SEMICONDUCTORS AND METALS
Redox Processes on Semiconductors
Redox Processes on Metal Surfaces
Electron Transfer in Miscellaneous Systems

DYE-SENSITIZED SOLAR CELLS I
General Information on Solar Cells
Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
DSSC Components

DYE-SENSITIZED SOLAR CELLS II
Optical Fiber DSSC
Tandem DSSC
Quantum Dot Solar Cells
Polymers in Solar Cells
Fabrication of Solar Cell Components
Fullerene-Based Solar Cells

PHOTOCATALYTIC REDUCTION AND OXIDATION OF WATER
Introduction
Photocatalytic Dihydrogen Production
Water Splitting into O2 and H2