PhD Research Studentships
Development of wide bandgap perovskite solar cells for indoor and tandem applications
| Supervisor: | Joe BRISCOE |
| Apply by: | 29 January 2025 |
| Start in: | September (Semester 1) |
Description
A PhD position is available in the group of Prof Joe Briscoe. The successful candidate will join a team of six PhD students and three postdoctoral researchers working in his group. Prof Briscoe’s research is focused on developing thin films and nanostructured materials for renewable energy applications, including photovoltaics (PVs), photoelectrocatalysis (PEC) for ‘solar fuels’ and piezoelectric energy harvesting. This includes research into perovskite solar cells with a number of ongoing PhD students and postdocs working in this area in both Prof Briscoe's group and those in the co-supervisors’ - Dr Zhe Li and Dr Stoichko Dimitrov – groups, who offer expertise in solar cell stability, scale-up and opto-electronic characterisation. The project will also be supported by co-supervision from Prof Annalisa Bruno, Associate Prof at NTU Singapore and visiting Professor at QMUL, who is a world-renowned expert in thermal evaporation of perovskites. The successful student will have access to lab facilities including gloveboxes and device fabrication and testing facilities, a wide range of characterisation facilities (SEM, TEM, XRD, XPS, advanced AFM, lab GIWAXS, tr-PL) and a brand-new Green Energy lab including state-of-the art thermal evaporator for perovskites, organics and metals.
Wide bandgap perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are of great interest for the rapidly growing areas of both indoor photovoltaics – to better match the spectra of indoor lighting (LED, fluorescent) – or as a top cell for either silicon-perovskite or perovskite-perovskite tandems. To produce perovskite materials with wider bandgaps requires the use of alternative perovskite compositions. These compositions demonstrate efficiencies below their optimum values and the origin of losses are not well understood. In this project suitable materials will be produced using both solution-based processes and thermal evaporation with a particular focus on those with higher stability. A major focus of the project will be to maximise the open circuit voltage (Voc) of the cells, as this is critical to achieve high efficiency in both tandem PVs and indoor PVs (particularly minimising Voc losses as illumination intensity is decreased). This will be achieved by a combination of advanced techniques, such as additive engineering, interfacial modifiers and aerosol-based post-treatment [1-3] to reduce recombination losses at the charge-transport interfaces. Overall the goal will be to push up the efficiencies of wide bandgap perovskite solar cells to better enable their potential in indoor and tandem applications.
Applications are invited from outstanding candidates with or expecting to receive a first or upper-second class honours bachelor’s degree in Materials Science, Physics, Chemistry, or related subjects. Candidates with experience or knowledge of perovskite solar cells or related technologies, solution processing of semiconductor materials, optical spectroscopy and/or optoelectronic device fabrication would be ideally suited for the position. A master’s degree in a relevant subject is also desirable.
Our PhD students become part of Queen Mary’s Doctoral College, which provides training and development opportunities, advice on funding, and financial research support. Our students also have access to a Researcher Development Programme designed to help recognise and develop the skills and attributes needed to manage research and to prepare and plan for the next stages of their career.
Relevant publications
[1] T. Du, S.R. Ratnasingham, F.U. Kosasih, T.J. Macdonald, L. Mohan, A. Augurio, H. Ahli, C.‐T. Lin, S. Xu, W. Xu, R. Binions, C. Ducati, J.R. Durrant, J. Briscoe,* M.A. McLachlan*, Aerosol assisted solvent treatment: a universal method for performance and stability enhancements in perovskite solar cells, Advanced Energy Materials 2101420 (2021).
[2] Du, T.J. Macdonald, R.X. Yang, M. Li, Z. Jiang, L. Mohan, W. Xu, Z. Su, X. Gao, R. Whiteley, C.-T. Lin, G. Min, S.A. Haque, J.R. Durrant, K.A. Persson, M.A. McLachlan and J. Briscoe, Additive‐Free, Low‐Temperature Crystallization of Stable α‐FAPbI3 Perovskite, Advanced Materials 34, 2107850 (2021).
[3] T. Du, F. Richheimer, K. Frohna, N. Gasparini, L. Mohan, G. Min, W. Xu, T. J. Macdonald, H. Yuan, S. R. Ratnasingham, S. Haque, F. A. Castro, J. R. Durrant, S. D. Stranks, S. Wood, M. A. McLachlan and J. Briscoe, Overcoming nanoscale inhomogeneities in thin-film perovskites via exceptional post-annealing grain growth for enhanced photodetection, Nano Letters 22, 979-988 (2022).
Funding
Funded by: China Scholarship CouncilCandidate will need to secure a CSC scholarship.
Under the scheme, Queen Mary will provide scholarships to cover all tuition fees, whilst the CSC will provide living expenses and one return flight ticket to successful applicants.
Eligibility
- The minimum requirement for this studentship opportunity is a good honours degree (minimum 2(i) honours or equivalent) or MSc/MRes in a relevant discipline.
- If English is not your first language, you will require a valid English certificate equivalent to IELTS 6.5+ overall with a minimum score of minimum score of 6.0 in each of Writing, Listening, Reading and Speaking).
- Candidates are expected to start in September (Semester 1).
Contact
For informal enquiries about this opportunity, please contact Joe BRISCOE.
Apply
Start an application for this studentship and for entry onto the PhD Materials Science full-time programme (Semester 1 / September start):
Please be sure to quote the reference "SEMS-PHD-628" to associate your application with this studentship opportunity.
| Related website: | https://briscoe-group.com/ | |
| SEMS Research Centre: | ||
| Keywords: | Applied Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Energy Technologies, Materials Science - Other, Experimental Physics, Semiconductors, Solid State Physics |