Light emitting polymer electrical energy source.

摘要

An electrical energy source (10) is created by the combination of a light emitting polymer material (12) having at least one light emitting surface emitting light energy of a specified frequency bandwidth and a photovoltaic cell (14, 16) having a light collecting surface and a pair of electrical contacts (20,22). The light collecting surface of the photovoltaic cell (14,16) is optically coupled with the light emitting surface of the light emitting polymer material (12). An open-circuit voltage is generated between the pair of electrical contacts (20,22) as a result of the absorption of emitted light energy from the light emitting polymer material (12) by the photovoltaic cell (14, 16). In the preferred embodiment, the light emitting polymer (12) is a tritiated organic polymer to which at least one organic phosphor or scintillant is bonded. Maximum absorption of the emitted light energy is achieved by the intimate optical contact between the light emitting surface and the light collecting surface, by matching the maximum absorption frequency bandwidth of the photovoltaic cell (14, 16) with the specified frequency bandwidth of the emitted light energy from the light emitting polymer material (12), and by the structural arrangement of the light emitting polymer material itself.