Xu Zhijie, Michalska Martyna, Papakonstantinou Ioannis
Photonic Innovations Lab, Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University College London, London WC1E 7JE, U.K.
Manufacturing Futures Lab, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London E20 3BS, U.K.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2024 May 29;16(21):27587-27595. doi: 10.1021/acsami.4c01707. Epub 2024 May 15.
Optimizing the photon spectrum for photosynthesis concurrently with improving crop yields presents an efficient and sustainable pathway to alleviate global food shortages. Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs), consisting of transparent host matrices doped with fluorophores, show excellent promise to achieve the desired spectral tailoring. However, conventional LSCs are predominantly engineered for photon concentration, which results in a limited outcoupling efficiency of converted photons. Here, we introduce a scheme to implement LSCs into horticulture (HLSC) by enhancing light extraction. The symmetry of the device is disrupted by incorporating microcone arrays on the bottom surface to mitigate total internal reflection. Both Monte Carlo ray tracing simulations and experimental results have verified that the greatest enhancements in converted light extraction, relative to planar LSCs, are achieved using microcone arrays (base width 50 μm, aspect ratio 1.2) with extruded and protruded profiles (85.15 and 66.55% improvement, respectively). Angularly resolved transmission measurements show that the HLSC device exhibits a broad angular radiation distribution. This characteristic indicates that the HLSC device emits diffuse light, which is conducive to optimal plant growth.
在提高作物产量的同时优化用于光合作用的光子光谱，为缓解全球粮食短缺提供了一条高效且可持续的途径。由掺杂荧光团的透明主体基质组成的发光太阳能聚光器（LSC），在实现所需的光谱定制方面显示出巨大潜力。然而，传统的LSC主要是为光子聚光而设计的，这导致转换光子的外耦合效率有限。在此，我们提出一种通过提高光提取效率将LSC应用于园艺领域（HLSC）的方案。通过在底面并入微锥阵列来破坏器件的对称性，以减少全内反射。蒙特卡罗光线追踪模拟和实验结果均已证实，相对于平面LSC，使用具有挤压和突出轮廓（底部宽度50μm，纵横比1.2）的微锥阵列可实现转换光提取的最大增强（分别提高85.15%和66.55%）。角度分辨透射测量表明，HLSC器件呈现出宽角度辐射分布。这一特性表明HLSC器件发射漫射光，有利于植物的最佳生长。
