Highly Emissive Carbon Dots/Organosilicon Composites for Efficient and Stable Luminescent Solar Concentrators

Carbon dots (CDs) have attracted increasing attention in the field of luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) due to their environmental and economic friendliness, simple synthesis method, and excellent optical properties. However, their limited solid-state photoluminescence hinders their applications in LSCs. Herein, novel CDs/organosilicon composites (OSi–CDs) with excellent solid-state emission and photostability were synthesized for LSC application. Two types of single-layer LSCs are fabricated by coating or injecting a mixture of OSi–CDs and a commercial silicone resin on a glass substrate (25 × 25 × 0.7 mm) or into a mold (25 × 25 × 1 mm), respectively, by thermal curing. The external optical efficiencies (ηopt) of the two LSCs can reach 4.50 and 5.89%, respectively, benefitting from the high photoluminescence quantum yield (∼49%) and efficient scattering of the composites. Moreover, the ηopt of the LSCs can remain above 80% after being treated at a temperature of 100 °C or under UV light radiation (λ = 365 nm and 1 W/cm2) for 168 h. This work not only provides highly emissive OSi–CDs for LSC application but also offers a valuable strategy to improve the stability of LSCs.