Understanding the energetics of organic semiconductors in photovoltaics
Project Details
Program
Materials Science & Engineering
Field of Study
chemistry, materials science
Division
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Faculty Lab Link
Project Description
The energetics of organic semiconductors play a significant role on determining several factors for device operation. For instance, open circuit voltage of an organic photovoltaic is determined by the energetic difference between ionization potential and electron affinity of donor and acceptor molecules. However, the way that we determine such energy levels vary depending on the method used. This project aims to develop a reliable and reproducible way of determining the energetics in organic semiconductors. The candidate will: process inks to create films of organic semiconductors from donors, acceptors and their blends. Measure photoelectron spectroscopy to determine the energy levels. Expose such organic semiconductors to external stress such as heat and light etc. And further determine the changes in energetics to create an understanding on the energetic landscape of organic semiconductors.
About the Researcher
Derya Baran
Associate Professor, Material Science and Engineering
Affiliations
Education Profile
- Research Associate, JA¼lich Forschungszentrum, Germany, 2016
- Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, UK, 2015
- PhD, Material Science and Engineering, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nurnberg, Germany, 2014
- MSc, Chemistry, Middle East Technical University, Turkey, 2010
- BSc, Chemistry, Middle East Technical University, Turkey, 2008
Research Interests
a€‹Professor Baran's research interests lie in the area of solution processable organic/hybrid soft materials for electronic devices. Such soft semiconductor materials possess a viable platform for printed, large area, stretchable and wearable electronics that can be used as solar cells, smart windows, OFETs, thermoelectrics, sensors and bio-electronics. a€‹Professor Baran is particularly interested in interface engineering for organic/hybrid solar cells, transparent solar cells for building integrated photovoltaics and stability/degradation studies for long lifetime organic solar cells. She has led projects on i) conjugated polymers for electrochromic devices; ii) non-fullerene acceptors for organic solar cells; iii) multi-component and multi-layered solar cell devices; and iv) understanding the correlation between recombination and nano-morphology in solution processed solar cells. Professor Baran aims to expand the applications of solution processable organic/hybrid semiconductors and to explore their limits in organic/hybrid thermoelectric devices and bio-electronics in the future.Selected Publications
- Baran, D.; Ashraf, S. R.; Hanifi, A. David; Abdelsamie, M.; Gasparini, N.; Rohr, J.; Holliday, S.; Wadsworth, A.; Lockett, S.; Nelson, J.; Brabec, C. J.; Amassian, A.; Salleo, A.; Kirhcartz, T.; Durrant, J. R., McCulloch, I. ,2016, Reducing the efficiencya-stabilitya-cost gap of organic photovoltaics with highly efficient and stable small molecule acceptor ternary solar cells, Nat. Mater. DOI: 10.1038/NMAT4797.
- Baran, D.; Kirhcartz, T.; Wheeler, S.; Dimitrov, S.; Abdelsamie, M.; Gorman, J.; Ashraf, S. R.; Holliday, S.; Gasparini, N.; Yan, H.; Amassian, A.; Brabec, C. J.; Durrant, J. R.; McCulloch, I., 2016, Reduced voltage losses yield 10% and >1V fullerene free organic solar cells, Energ. Environ. Sci., DOI: 10.1039/C6EE02598F.
- Gasparini, N.; Jiao, Xuechen, Heumueller, T.; Baran, D.; Matt, G. M.; Fladischer, S.; Spieker, E.; Ade, H.; Brabec, C. J.; Ameri, T., 2016, Designing ternary blend bulk heterojunction solar cells with reduced carrier recombination and a fill factor of 77%, Nat. Energ. 1, 16118.
- Holliday, S.; Ashraf, S. R.; Wadsworth, A.; Baran, D.; Nielsen, C. B.; Tan, C. H.; Dimitrov, S.; Yousaf, S. A.; Shang, Z.; Gasparini, N.; Brabec, C. J.; Salleo, A.; Durrant, J. R. ; McCulloch, I., 2016, High-efficiency and air-stable P3HT-based polymer solar cells with a new non-fullerene acceptor, Nat. Commun., 7,11585.
- Hou Y.; Chen W.; Baran D.; Stubhan T.; Luechinger N. A.; Hartmeier B.; Richter M.; Min J.; Chen S.; Ramirez Quiroz C. O.; Li N.; Zhang H.; Heumueller T.; Matt G. J.; Osvet A.; Forberich K.; Zhang Z. G.; Li Y.; Winter B.; Schweizer P.; Spiecker E.; Brabec, C. J., 2016, Overcoming the Interface Losses in Planar Heterojunction Perovskitea€Based Solar Cells, Adv. Mater., 28, 5112a-5120.
Desired Project Deliverables
The project would deliver a list of energy levels determined for organic semiconductors and their blends and build an understanding on their stability and energetic landscape.
We are shaping the
World of Research
Be part of the journey with VSRP
3-6 months
Internship period
100+
Research Projects
3.5/4
Cumulative GPA
310
Interns a Year