Molecular “catapult” discovery could transform solar energy technology
Molecular “catapult” discovery could transform solar energy technology
Publish Date: 2026-03-06 08:32:00
Source Domain: www.openaccessgovernment.org
image: ©Ramberg | iStock
Scientists at the University of Cambridge have revealed a new mechanism that allows electrons to move across solar materials at extraordinary speeds, potentially reshaping how future solar technologies are designed
The discovery reveals that molecular vibrations can actively propel electrons across material interfaces, enabling faster charge transfer than previously believed possible.
The research, conducted by scientists at the Cavendish Laboratory and the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, shows that electrons can cross the boundary between two materials in just 18 femtoseconds.
This timescale indicates that the motion occurs within a single molecular vibration, suggesting a new pathway to improve light-harvesting technologies such as solar cells and photodetectors.
Breaking the rules of solar material design
Scientists have long believed that ultrafast charge transfer in solar materials requires strong electronic interactions and significant energy differences between the device’s components.
While these conditions help electrons move quickly, they also come with drawbacks, including energy loss and reduced electrical voltage.
The Cambridge team wanted to challenge this assumption by deliberately designing a system that should have been inefficient under traditional design rules.
They placed a polymer donor material next to a non-fullerene acceptor with very little energy difference between them and minimal electronic coupling. Conventional theory predicted that electron transfer in such a system would be slow.
Instead, the opposite occurred. Experiments revealed that electrons crossed the interface between the materials almost instantly, at speeds comparable to the natural vibrations of the molecules.
The role of molecular vibrations
The key to this unexpected speed lies in how molecules move. At extremely small timescales, atoms inside molecules vibrate continuously. In the Cambridge experiments, when…
