ISTANBUL

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have made a breakthrough that could revolutionize solar energy, discovering a new way to turn light into electricity using a single, lightweight material, potentially making solar panels cheaper, more efficient, and easier to produce.

Published by the Science Daily on Wednesday, the study introduces a highly efficient method for capturing light and converting it into electricity. This innovation could change not only solar technology but also electronics, as it allows the entire process to happen within a single material.

The research focuses on an organic material called P3TTM, which has a single unpaired electron giving it unique properties.

“This is the real magic,” said Biwen Li, lead researcher at the Cavendish Laboratory. In most organic materials, electrons usually form pairs and remain isolated from neighboring molecules.

When P3TTM molecules are close together, their single electrons interact and line up in a special pattern.

Light can make an electron jump to a nearby molecule, creating charges that produce electricity. A thin P3TTM solar cell converted almost every bit of light into electricity, working very efficiently using just one material. The small energy needed for this, called the "Hubbard U," is the cost of having two electrons on one molecule.

Dr. Petri Murto designed molecules that control how they interact and the energy needed for charge separation via Mott-Hubbard physics. This breakthrough could allow solar cells to be made from a single, low-cost, lightweight material.

The discovery is historically significant, coinciding with the 120th anniversary of Sir Nevill Mott’s birth, whose work laid the foundation for modern condensed matter physics.

“It feels like coming full circle,” said Prof. Richard Friend. “Mott's insights were foundational for my own career and for our understanding of semiconductors. To now see these profound quantum mechanical rules manifesting in a completely new class of organic materials, and to harness them for light harvesting, is truly special.”

“We are not just improving old designs,” said Prof. Hugo Bronstein. “We are writing a new chapter in the textbook, showing that organic materials are able to generate charges all by themselves.”