Videos illustrate NSF-funded study of perovskite solar cells by ChE's Dou
Letian Dou, the Charles Davidson Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, is an authority in the field of perovskite solar cells, and his work is highlighted in a variety of videos available on social media.
His recent NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award will allow him to further his research with the study of electronic properties of perovskites.
Energy.gov defines perovskites as “a family of materials with a specific crystal structure, named after the mineral with that structure. When used to create solar cells, they have shown potential for high performance and low production costs.”
Dou is principal investigator of a research group for the NSF-funded project, “Understanding and Quantifying Ion Migration and Diffusion in Two-Dimensional Halide Perovskite Heterostructures.” He will receive more than $550,000 over the next five years to further his research.
Dou and his team are developing novel structures from two-dimensional perovskites to quantify how ions diffuse and migrate under heat, light, and electrical bias.
“This is a very exciting project,” he said. “Through this project, we will elucidate the ionic diffusion and migration mechanisms in 2D halide perovskite heterostructures; identify the most promising materials stabilization strategies; and finally demonstrate high efficiency LED devices with enhanced stability. I believe this project will provide valuable knowledge to the field. Furthermore, we will disseminate basic materials science and semiconductor knowledge to a broader range of audience and educate next-generation young scientists and engineers.”
Below are links to videos that help explain the perovskite solar cell work under way by Dou and his colleagues.
Development of new materials and stable perovskite solar cells
“We received a $1.8 million research grant and, in early 2021, a $50,000 American Made Solar Prize from the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy to develop new materials and stable perovskite solar cells,” Dou said. “We are collaborating with Brett Savoie (Charles Davidson Assistant Professor in Chemical Engineering) on materials simulation and machine learning to predict better materials, and with Jianguo Mei (Richard and Judith Wien Associate Professor of Chemistry) to scale up promising new materials and devices. This video summarizes what we are doing now.”
Overview of halide perovskite semiconductor materials and devices
“I gave a seminar hosted by Zhihong Chen (professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue’s Birck Nanotechnology Center) in February 2021 to the faculty and students. In this video, I gave an overview about our research on halide perovskite semiconductor materials and devices,” Dou said. “I covered topics on materials synthesis, heterostructure fabrication, understanding of the stability and ion migration, then device applications including field-effect transistors, light-emitting diodes, and solar cells.”
New materials and processing techniques in perovskite solar cells
“This video was prepared by the College of Engineering and features our Lillian Gilbreth Postdoc Fellow, Ke (Coco) Ma, who has been working in my lab since 2019. She is leading our solar cell subgroup and investigating new materials and processing techniques to fabricate highly efficient and stable perovskite solar cells. She published a milestone work in Advanced Materials in 2021 (“Multi-Functional Conjugated Ligand Engineering for Stable and Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells.” Advanced Materials 2021, 33, 2100791). She received her PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2018, and she is currently pursuing a faculty position.”
Source: ChE news