Konarka Technologies, Inc., an innovator in development and commercialization of Power Plastic, a material that converts light to energy, today announced the company has obtained an exclusive license for a new family of photoactive polymers (polycarbazoles - PCZ) developed by Professor Mario Leclerc, director of the Macromolecular Science and Engineering Research Center of Université Laval (CERSIM) and director of the Quebec Center on Functional Materials (CQMF). Konarka and Université Laval have been collaborating for the past four years.
"It is a great achievement for me and my team to see the results of our work with polycarbazoles transferred into a useful product for the community, especially in the field of renewable energy," commented Professor Mario Leclerc. "It is rewarding to know that our work can be part of an answer to environmental and energy issues."
Professor Mario Leclerc is the recipient of a Canada research chair (Tier 1) in Polymer Science. He is author or coauthor of 169 scientific publications and 9 book chapters and has 9 patents. He was awarded a doctorate in chemistry from Université Laval in 1987.
"We recently obtained the exclusive rights to Professor Leclerc's new polymer family that will allow us to investigate and optimize its potential for increased efficiency in converting light to energy in photovoltaic modules," commented Dr. Russell Gaudiana, vice president, research at Konarka. "We expect that this technology will help us maintain our leadership position in organic photovoltaics by accelerating the development, manufacturing and commercialization of our Power Plastic."
