Design of flexible perovskite solar cells inspired by nature

Project ID: 2531ad1501

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Research Theme: Energy and Decarbonisation

UCL Lead department: Chemical Engineering

Project Summary:

Society is facing an urgent need for new sustainable technologies that can provide energy on a large-scale and facilitate our transition to Net Zero. Perovskite materials exhibit remarkable properties and ease-of-fabrication compared to the current state-of-the-art for solar cell applications. These materials can be deposited directly from inks or solutions, making them highly compatible with existing printing infrastructure for rapid industrial scale production. However, demonstrations of high-efficiency perovskite solar cells have been mainly on the lab-scale and several challenges remain open in scaling up this promising technology. This project aims to develop new, scalable solar cell architectures for perovskite materials, drawing inspiration from nature. It will be conducted in the Manufacturing Futures Laboratory, at the new UCL East campus in London (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/manufacturing-futures-lab/). Scalability is a challenge that nature tackles remarkably well, as seen in the many hierarchical networks we encounter in biology. The project will leverage insights from the natural world to design new solar cell architectures, tailored on the meso- and nano-scale, to overcome the limitations of the small lab-scale prototypes and to achieve optimal performance in large-area solar cells. These new architectures will be designed for compatibility with solution-processable methods enabling scalable and inexpensive manufacturing in the future. We seek a motivated student who has completed or is close to completing a first-class degree at the MEng or MSc level in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Material Science or related fields with an interest in new technologies for sustainable energy production. The ability to perform research independently while being a constructive member of a collaborative team, within a demanding environment, is a must. Demonstrable prior experience with semiconductor devices and material characterization tools are desirable, but not necessary requirements. The post-holder is expected to publish in peer-reviewed journals of international standing and present results at international conferences and industry events.