Invited seminar
Author: Prof. Nitin P. Padture
Affiliation: Brown University, USA
When: Monday, October 16, 2017 - 11:00
Where: Seminari 1er Pis Ed. Investigació I
Presented by: Iván Mora-Seró
Abstract: 

Solution-processed thin-film perovskite solar cells (PSCs), where the record efficiency has rocketed from 3.8% to 22.1% — comparable to commercial silicon-based solar cells — in just seven years, offer unprecedented promise of low-cost, high-efficiency renewable electricity generation. Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites(HOIPs) at the heart of PSCs have unique structures, which entail rotating organic cations inside inorganic cages, imparting them with desirable optical and electronic properties. To exploit these properties for PSCs application, the reliable deposition of high-quality HOIP thin films over large areas is critically important. The microstructures and grain-boundary networks in the resulting polycrystalline HOIP thin films are equally important as they control the PSC performance and stability.Fundamental phenomena pertaining to synthesis, crystallization, coarsening, and microstructural evolution involved in the solution-based- and amine-gas-based-processing of HOIP thin films for PSCs will be discussed with specific examples. The overall goal of our research is to have deterministic control over scalable processing of tailored HOIP thin films with desired compositions, microstructures, and grain-boundary networks for large-area, high-efficiency, and stable PSCs.

Biography: 
Nitin P. Padture is the Otis E. Randall University Professor in the School of Engineering, and Director of the Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation, at Brown University — an Ivy League university established in 1764. Padture’sresearch and teaching interests are in the broad areas of synthesis/processing, characterization, and properties/performance of advanced ceramics and nanomaterials used in applications ranging from jet engines to computer chips to solar cells. He has nearly 200 publications to his credit, which have been cited over 13,500 times (h-Index 61), and he has presented over 200 invited/keynote/plenary talks in the US and abroad. A Fellow of the American Ceramic Society, Padture has received that society's Roland B. Snow, Robert L. Coble, and Richard M. Fulrath awards. He is also a recipient of the U.S. Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, and he is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Recently he was honored by his alma mater, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, with the Distinguished Alumnus Award. Padture is editor of the international journals Acta Materialia and Scripta Materialia.