Photophysical Properties of Pmma Nanohybrids and Their Applications : Luminescent solar concentrators & smart greenhouses

The technical development of the fluorescent solar concentrators (FSCs) has been plagued by many problems in the past, including limited absorption of the solar spectrum; photodegradation of organic fluorescent dyes; fluorescence quenching at high dye concentrations due to the non- radiative energy transfer to dimers and the loss of about 25.78 % of the fluorescent photons out via the critical cones. This book proposed a number of concepts to overcome all the above limitations, including 1) the determination of the dimerization concentration of a coumarin derivative dye (MACROLEX Fluorescent Red G) in polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) thick- films, 2) modification of PMMA matrix by its hybridization with hydrophilic nanosilica , and 3) overdoping hybrid matrix with very high dye concentrations which revealed a remarkable shift of the dye dimerization threshold from 100 ppm for PMMA to 200 ppm for PMMA/ nanosilica matrix. All these information will finally be used to discuss and demonstrate the aspects of two promising implications regarding the application of FSCs in greenhouses and solar electricity conversion.