PhD Studentship in Solid State Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

Overview

Dye-sensitized solar cells offer opportunities for new applications for solar power, particularly under ambient conditions and for integration into devices and structures. A key component that affects the performance and stability is the charge-transport layer. This research project focuses on electronic charge transport in molecular systems which employ simple assembly methods such as “click chemistry”. Materials will be designed to be easy to synthesise, purify and scale up, and to offer better transparency and stability over commercial materials such as Spiro-OMeTAD and PEDOT-PSS, but still deliver high-efficiency in solid state dye-sensitized solar cells. They will be prepared, characterised and tested in devices. Relationships between the structure and optical and electronic properties will be explored and charge-transfer between the dye and the charge-transport material will be tested using state of the art transient absorption spectroscopy and microscopy. Promising devices will be tested for their long term stability and performance under indoor and outdoor conditions.

Number Of Awards

1

Start Date

January 2022 or earlier.

Award Duration

3.5 years.

Sponsor

EPSRC 

Supervisors

Elizabeth Gibson & Marina Freitag

Eligibility Criteria

You must hold a first class Bachelor’s degree in chemistry or a related subject. The award is available to home applicants only.

How To Apply

You must apply through the University’s online postgraduate application system.

You will need to:

·      Insert the programme code 8100F in the programme of study section

·      Select ‘PhD Chemistry’ as the programme of study

·      Insert the studentship code SNES215 in the studentship/partnership reference field

·      Attach a covering letter and CV. The covering letter must state the title of the studentship, quote reference code SNES215 and state how your interests and experience relate to the project

·      Attach degree transcripts and certificates and, if English is not your first language, a copy of your English language qualifications

Contact Details

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