News Chemistry

Light-harvesting complexes do it themselves

New technique could yield self-assembling solar cells

By Rachel Ehrenberg

- More than 2 years ago

A new technique may one day lead to solar cells that bring themselves together like a molecular flash mob and repair damage they sustain during the rough business of turning light into electricity.

COME TOGETHER | Future solar cells may build and repair themselves using a handful of ingredients: photosynthetic reaction centers (green) to capture light, carbon nanotubes (grey bar) to carry current and nanodiscs of lipids (yellow) and proteins (red and blue) for structural support.