Photovoltaic effectThe photovoltaic effect is the generation of voltage and electric current in a material upon exposure to light. It is a physical and chemical phenomenon. The photovoltaic effect is closely related to the photoelectric effect. For both phenomena, light is absorbed, causing excitation of an electron or other charge carrier to a higher-energy state. The main distinction is that the term photoelectric effect is now usually used when the electron is ejected out of the material (usually into a vacuum) and photovoltaic effect used when the excited charge carrier is still contained within the material.
Phase (matter)In the physical sciences, a phase is a region of material that is chemically uniform, physically distinct, and (often) mechanically separable. In a system consisting of ice and water in a glass jar, the ice cubes are one phase, the water is a second phase, and the humid air is a third phase over the ice and water. The glass of the jar is another separate phase. (See .) More precisely, a phase is a region of space (a thermodynamic system), throughout which all physical properties of a material are essentially uniform.
Ion transport numberIn chemistry, ion transport number, also called the transference number, is the fraction of the total electric current carried in an electrolyte by a given ionic species i: Differences in transport number arise from differences in electrical mobility. For example, in an aqueous solution of sodium chloride, less than half of the current is carried by the positively charged sodium ions (cations) and more than half is carried by the negatively charged chloride ions (anions) because the chloride ions are able to move faster, i.
Intercalation (chemistry)In chemistry, intercalation is the reversible inclusion or insertion of a molecule (or ion) into layered materials with layered structures. Examples are found in graphite and transition metal dichalcogenides. One famous intercalation host is graphite, which intercalates potassium as a guest. Intercalation expands the van der Waals gap between sheets, which requires energy. Usually this energy is supplied by charge transfer between the guest and the host solid, i.e., redox. Two potassium graphite compounds are KC8 and KC24.
