Chapter 1: Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) efficiencies have not significantly improved in recent years, primarily because of their single band gap design, limitations in dye absorption energies, and the Shockley-Queisser (SQ) limit. DSSCs require incident photon energy in the visible spectrum for the cell to produce a usable current. While the possibility of absorbing two
near-infrared photons is a known concept for surmounting the SQ limit, the opportunities presented by mesoporous systems for creating such a sensitizer do not appear to have been studied. By incorporating carborane cluster-based macrocyclic compounds as \"electron reservoirs,\" a number of the inherent limitations in DSSC systems can be potentially circumvented, including extending the useable photon energy into the IR region by using a multi-photon, multi-step mechanism, effectively surmounting the SQ limit.
Chapter 2: Recent experiments with hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) have shown
successful covalent and non-covalent functionalization of these nanostructures. Furthermore, experiments have also shown that the non-covalent functionalization of boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS) with polythiophene can produce a working photovoltaic device when attached to TiO2 nanoparticles as a semiconductor in a manner similar to a DSSC. This paper explores the characterizations of a new polythiophene-BNNS complex, as well as attempting to stabilize and functionalize BNNS with thiophene based monomers.
","abstract_html":"<p>Chapter 1: Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) efficiencies have not significantly improved in recent years, primarily because of their single band gap design, limitations in dye absorption energies, and the Shockley-Queisser (SQ) limit. DSSCs require incident photon energy in the visible spectrum for the cell to produce a usable current. While the possibility of absorbing two</p> <p>near-infrared photons is a known concept for surmounting the SQ limit, the opportunities presented by mesoporous systems for creating such a sensitizer do not appear to have been studied. By incorporating carborane cluster-based macrocyclic compounds as "electron reservoirs," a number of the inherent limitations in DSSC systems can be potentially circumvented, including extending the useable photon energy into the IR region by using a multi-photon, multi-step mechanism, effectively surmounting the SQ limit.</p> <p>Chapter 2: Recent experiments with hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) have shown</p> <p>successful covalent and non-covalent functionalization of these nanostructures. Furthermore, experiments have also shown that the non-covalent functionalization of boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS) with polythiophene can produce a working photovoltaic device when attached to TiO2 nanoparticles as a semiconductor in a manner similar to a DSSC. This paper explores the characterizations of a new polythiophene-BNNS complex, as well as attempting to stabilize and functionalize BNNS with thiophene based monomers.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Petrelli, Christopher Robert"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Chemistry","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["James T. Spencer"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:54:59Z","subjects":["Boron","Cluster","Macrocycle","Nano","Photovoltaics","Polythiophene","Physical Sciences and Mathematics"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://surface.syr.edu/etd/184","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["James T. Spencer"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Petrelli, Christopher Robert"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Chemistry"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Boron","Cluster","Macrocycle","Nano","Photovoltaics","Polythiophene","Physical Sciences and Mathematics"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://surface.syr.edu/etd/184"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Chapter 1: Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) efficiencies have not significantly improved in recent years, primarily because of their single band gap design, limitations in dye absorption energies, and the Shockley-Queisser (SQ) limit. DSSCs require incident photon energy in the visible spectrum for the cell to produce a usable current. While the possibility of absorbing two
near-infrared photons is a known concept for surmounting the SQ limit, the opportunities presented by mesoporous systems for creating such a sensitizer do not appear to have been studied. By incorporating carborane cluster-based macrocyclic compounds as \"electron reservoirs,\" a number of the inherent limitations in DSSC systems can be potentially circumvented, including extending the useable photon energy into the IR region by using a multi-photon, multi-step mechanism, effectively surmounting the SQ limit.
Chapter 2: Recent experiments with hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) have shown
successful covalent and non-covalent functionalization of these nanostructures. Furthermore, experiments have also shown that the non-covalent functionalization of boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS) with polythiophene can produce a working photovoltaic device when attached to TiO2 nanoparticles as a semiconductor in a manner similar to a DSSC. This paper explores the characterizations of a new polythiophene-BNNS complex, as well as attempting to stabilize and functionalize BNNS with thiophene based monomers.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The synthesis, characterization, and application of carborane-cluster based macrocycles and boron nitride nanosheets in photovoltaics"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["James T. Spencer"],"dc:creator":["Petrelli, Christopher Robert"],"dc:description.abstract":["Chapter 1: Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) efficiencies have not significantly improved in recent years, primarily because of their single band gap design, limitations in dye absorption energies, and the Shockley-Queisser (SQ) limit. DSSCs require incident photon energy in the visible spectrum for the cell to produce a usable current. While the possibility of absorbing two
near-infrared photons is a known concept for surmounting the SQ limit, the opportunities presented by mesoporous systems for creating such a sensitizer do not appear to have been studied. By incorporating carborane cluster-based macrocyclic compounds as \"electron reservoirs,\" a number of the inherent limitations in DSSC systems can be potentially circumvented, including extending the useable photon energy into the IR region by using a multi-photon, multi-step mechanism, effectively surmounting the SQ limit.
Chapter 2: Recent experiments with hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) have shown
successful covalent and non-covalent functionalization of these nanostructures. Furthermore, experiments have also shown that the non-covalent functionalization of boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS) with polythiophene can produce a working photovoltaic device when attached to TiO2 nanoparticles as a semiconductor in a manner similar to a DSSC. This paper explores the characterizations of a new polythiophene-BNNS complex, as well as attempting to stabilize and functionalize BNNS with thiophene based monomers.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://surface.syr.edu/etd/184"],"dc:subject":["Boron","Cluster","Macrocycle","Nano","Photovoltaics","Polythiophene","Physical Sciences and Mathematics"],"dc:title":["The synthesis, characterization, and application of carborane-cluster based macrocycles and boron nitride nanosheets in photovoltaics"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Chemistry"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:54:59Z"}