Just a brief note, via Slashdot and Technology Review: a Cambridge group has published the synthesis route for a fullerene polymer – 
they call it fullerene-based one-dimensional nanopolymer – which might be an interesting acceptor material for organic photovoltaics. The preprint can be found on arXiv. The fullerene polymer has not been functionalised yet, it is thus not soluble enough for solution processing. Also, the electrical conductivity remains an open question… are the spacers critical? Nevertheless, interesting addition to the group of fullerene derivatives, after the recent bis-fullerenes [Lenes 2008] and endohedral fullerenes [Ross 2009].
Author: deibel
Science 3.0?
Via Academic Productivity: Interesting comment, What can Science learn from Google? I especially like that it starts with a quote by George Box (you know I like them;-)
All models are wrong, but some are useful.
The article takes the provocative stance that we do not need models any more to describe the world, as petabyte data clouds combined with massive computing power are able to correlate data.
Data without a model is just noise. But faced with massive data, this approach to science — hypothesize, model, test — is becoming obsolete. […] Correlation supersedes causation, and science can advance even without coherent models, unified theories, or really any mechanistic explanation at all.
I humbly disagree. Understanding needs models, predictions need models. Of course, in order to find models, correlations – probably found by using computers – can show the way.
US American Energy Frontier Reseach Centers announced
The US Department of Energy is to fund 46 so called Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) with 777 million dollars over the course of the next five years (see news here). 
Quite a commitment to basic research in times of a global economic crisis &ndash although the decision has been taken years before, with thematic workshops starting in 2003.
Some of the centers will focus on photovoltaic energy conversion, partly with a strong focus on organics!
- Center for Interface Science: Hybrid Solar-Electric Materials, University of Arizona (Director: Neil R. Armstrong)
- Center for Inverse Design, National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorada (Director: Alex Zunger)
- Center for Excitonics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Director: Marc Baldo)
- Polymer-Based Materials for Harvesting Solar Energy, University of Massachusetts (Director: Thomas Russell)
- Solar Energy Conversion in Complex Materials, University of Michigan (Director: Peter Green)
- Solar Fuels and Next Generation Photovoltaics, University of North Carolina (Director: Thomas Meyer)
- The Center for Advanced Solar Photophysics, Los Alamos National Laboratory (Director: Victor Klimov)
- Re-Defining Photovoltaic Efficiency Through Molecule-Scale Control, Columbia University (Director: James Yardley)
- Understanding Charge Separation and Transfer at Interfaces in Energy Materials and Devices, University of Texas (Director: Paul Barbara)
The list can be found here, and there are also details available.
Well, strong competition coming up for us European researchers… but what could be better for driving a field forward? ;-)
Making Hybrid Solar Cells Using Highly Abundant Materials ;-)
Excellent video by Blake Farrow using a abundant materials… from powdered donuts with passion tea. Find the video here.
Thanks go to Jens for the link!
P.S. Juan had this already last month: sorry for being late;-)
iPhone again
Via Ken Lee @ Macresearch: 
if you are an avid user of 
Two other useful programs: a periodic table, The Chemical Touch: Lite Edition) and PhD Comics (very useful – and also available directly on the web ;-) Enjoy.
Wolfgang Pauli speaking
I just have to share these quotes of Wolfgang Pauli:
One shouldn’t work on semiconductors, that is a filthy mess; who knows if they really exist!
God created the solids, the devil their surfaces.
I don’t mind your thinking slowly; I mind your publishing faster than you think.
This isn’t right. It’s not even wrong.
Excellent… and certainly applicable to the fields of organic solar cells and disordered semiconductors ;-)
Making The Round: New Report on Materials for Organic Photovoltaics Sector
Yesterday, a new report on the future prospects of the organic photovoltaics business was presented by the analyst firm Nanomarkets. It is said to include a roadmap for improvements in organic solar cell lifetimes and efficiencies, as well as forecast of volume and price of relevant materials over the course of eight years.
I cannot comment on the analysts’ expertise, although they are specialised on market research for organic and printable electronics – which has pros (they know what they are talking about) and cons (they might be pretty subjective), I reckon;-) See their press release here. All in all, a promising future is just what we need:-)
Blog reference in a book on Flexible Solar Cells
Just found a book about Flexible Solar Cells. I found it admittedly by vanity search;-) In chapter 4 (about organic solar cells), several of my figures published 
in this blog are used.
Of course, I am very happy that my figures are liked and used, and also happy that I was referenced (my name and the blog are mentioned below the respective figures, and really also appear in the list of references ;-). However, I was somewhat surprised about not having been asked for the permission of the images’ reproduction. I even could have supplied them in high resolution.
By the way, if you want to have a look at the book (yes, free advertisement… maybe I get a copy of the book as appreciation;) , you can find it at google books (hope the links works..) and also at Scribd, although for the latter link, I am pretty sure that the book pdf is published without Wiley’s permission! Disclaimer: all links go to external sites, they are just for your information. [Update 7.7.2009: the book pdf on Scribd was deleted at the request of John Wiley and Sons.]
So, once again, I am happy if you use my material and give me credit, even if you do not ask. But please do!
P.S. One of my photos from this blog (saved at flickr) was also published (with my permission;-) in the Schmap Boston Guide.
Papers for iPhone… soon
The Mac using scientists amongst you are probably aware of the 
program Papers for organising your electronic library of articles. The developer, Alex Griekspoor (aka mek), has been working hard on the corresponding iPhone version lately; now, it has been submitted to the App Store and is expected soon. Update 19.2.2009: available now. Not cheap with 10 Euros 8 Euros (Update 27.2.2009: sorry, my mistake, was 10 Dollars. And actually, it is rather cheap, considering what other things I buy for 8 Euros;-), and the iPhone seems also a bit small for reading papers, but might nevertheless be a useful tool. Also, it includes a free online backup via Amazon S3 (!) and syncing to the coming Papers (for Mac) version 1.9.
Personally, I like the Mac version of Papers a lot: it is really an innovative program, although for me it has never been very stable (this, however, seems not to be a common problem according to the forums. Still, apologies to mek for never mentioning my instabilities to him ;-).
Update 27.2.2009 P.S. After I posted this, I wrote the Papers developer, mek, about my instability problem, and he answered within a few hours. It is a known issue having to do with Smart Lists. Now, my Papers version is responsive and stable!
“The first thing we have to do is just not screw it up…”
Panel discussion at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting 
about where research efforts (and funding;-) should be focused concerning energy production and use. Nanotechnology might play a key role – to which organics belong, even though they are not explicitly mentioned. The discussion is summarised at Ars Technica. One conclusion:
So from the generation side, there were several key messages about where we should be putting our money: go with solar, increase efficiencies using nanoparticles, find a way to use cheap and abundant raw materials, and think seriously about thermoelectric materials.
The German physical society published a study about climate, energy, and what related research is needed back in 2005, yet still contains uptodate concepts and ideas. But I still wonder: Do Europeans actually have an organisation similar to the AAAS mentioned above, or similar meetings?
Notes on Disordered Matter 
