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H2020Individual fellowship2017–2019

SpinSolar · Characterisation method for spin-dependent processes in solar energy technology

Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2017-11-01 → 2019-10-31
EU contribution
€159,461
Participants
1
Scheme
MSCA-IF-EF-ST

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

Characterisation method for spin-dependent processes in solar energy technology

Innovations in the field of solar energy technology have the potential to replace fossil fuels with energy from renewable resources and thereby help reach sustainable development goals. However, progress now crucially relies on an improved fundamental understanding of the processes involved in energy conversion on the molecular level. Significant research effort is currently devoted to the investigation of organic molecules and polymers as the active component in solar cells, with significant advantages compared to traditional silicon-based solar cells in terms of tunability through chemical modification, flexibility and reduced manufacturing costs. Similar organic materials also hold promise for applications in organic light emitting diodes and organic thin-film transistors. Investigation of how molecular structure affects the electronic properties of these materials is at the basis of the development of new design rules resulting in improved high-efficiency devices. Since the function of organic photovoltaic and optoelectronic devices is based on the generation and transport of charge carriers, typically characterised by the presence of unpaired electrons, Electron Spin Resonance (ESR), or Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR), spectroscopy provides the ideal characterisation tool for these systems. The main objective of the project is to demonstrate how EPR spectroscopy can contribute to the characterisation of materials for photovoltaics and optoelectronics and how the resulting in-depth understanding of structural and electronic properties, as well as of their interdependence, can lead to new insights enabling progress in the development of new materials.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

In the search for renewable energy sources, solar energy shows great promise through its conversion to electricity and storable fuels using artificial photosynthesis. A detailed understanding of the energy conversion processes on the nanoscale is needed for the rational design and improvement of solar technology. This project is aimed at the development of a methodology for in-depth characterisation of spin-dependent processes in solar energy devices. The method will be based on a novel combination of pulse Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) and Electrically Detected Magnetic Resonance (EDMR) spectroscopy with arbitrarily shaped pulses. ESR by itself has already proven to be instrumental for advancing the understanding of natural photosynthesis and the increased sensitivity of EDMR allows the extension of this technique to assembled devices.The combination of both techniques and development of new pulse schemes based on arbitrarily shaped pulses will lead to significant advancements, enabling the simultaneous study of charge separation, charge transport and catalysis and their interdependence in fully assembled solar-to-fuel devices. The research will utilise cutting-edge instrumentation for simultaneous detection of magnetisation and photocurrent at FU Berlin. To fully exploit the advantages of this methodology, a theoretical description for the new experiments will be implemented in the widely used ESR simulation software EasySpin, providing a unified framework for the description of ESR and EDMR.The work on this project will serve to diversify the researcher’s competences and provide her with a broad skill set combining experimental and theoretical expertise, paving the way for an independent research career. The methodology developed for the characterisation of solar energy devices will provide new insights into artificial photosynthesis that will guide progress in solar technology with important implications for its commercialisation and industrial application.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • FREIE UNIVERSITAET BERLIN · BerlinCoordinatorGermany

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union