Characterisation of Organic/Inorganic Perovskite-Structured Hybrid Materials for Photovoltaic Applications

Methyl ammonium lead iodide (MALI) has recently been shown to have an exceptional photo voltaic (PV) efficiency (20%) but doubts exist as to whether this compound is stable enough in the environment (moisture/freeze-thaw cycles) to give long term reliability in low cost PV cell architectures. This project will explore the use of inorganic and organic dopants in the perovskite structure to control the stability during both fabrication of the device architecture and its subsequent usage in ambient. The project is part funded by Dyesol UK Ltd in Manchester where the successful candidate will undergo short term secondments to perform deposition work and characterisation of the PV properties. Electrical characterisation of the perovskite-structured materials will be carried at Materials Science and Engineering, Sheffield in our newly refurbished ’state of the art’ labs and structural and microstructural studies performed using our extensive electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction facilities.