International Research Fellowship Program: Zinc Oxide/Low Band gap Polymer Hybrid Photovoltaic Devices

0965057阿姆斯登国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行9至24个月的研究。 该计划的奖项为联合研究提供了机会，并利用国外独特或互补的设施，专业知识和实验条件。该奖项将支持Jason J. Amsden博士与韩国首尔的首尔国立大学的ChangHee Lee博士进行为期24个月的研究奖学金。有机光伏（OPV）器件由于其易于加工、机械灵活性和低成本而提供了硅基器件的有趣替代方案。 然而，目前OPV的功率转换效率仍然太低，无法与硅基器件竞争。 提高OPV中的功率转换效率的两种可能性包括使用新的低带隙高迁移率聚合物和使用掺入半导体聚合物和半导体纳米晶体的混合材料。具有低带隙的聚合物更有效地收集太阳辐射，并且半导体纳米晶体如氧化锌是有利的，因为它们与有机分子相比具有高电子迁移率、溶液处理和可调带隙。 本研究首次研究了氧化锌薄膜与低带隙聚合物混合光伏器件的形貌和电荷输运性质。该项目将包括两个主要组成部分：第一个目标是使用各种类型的光谱学和显微镜表征低带隙聚合物和各种形态的氧化锌纳米晶体之间的相互作用和电荷传输特性。第二个平行目标是利用光谱学和显微镜获得的见解研究混合器件的光伏性能。除了增加关于太阳能转换有机光伏材料的知识的明显好处外，这项研究将有助于PI和首尔的首尔国立大学的研究小组之间开展新的国际合作，韩国（ChangHee Lee教授和Do Yeung Yoon教授）、德国美因茨马克斯普朗克聚合物研究所（Klaus Müllen教授）和美国波士顿波士顿大学（Kenneth J. Rothschild教授）。

0965057AmsdenThe International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct nine to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support a twenty-four-month research fellowship by Dr. Jason J. Amsden to work with Dr. ChangHee Lee at Seoul National University in Seoul, South Korea. Organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices offer an intriguing alternative to silicon based devices due to their ease of processing, mechanical flexibility, and low cost. However, at present the power conversion efficiency of OPV is still too low to compete with silicon based devices. Two possibilities for improving the power conversion efficiency in OPV include use of new low band gap high mobility polymers and use of hybrid materials incorporating semiconducting polymers and semiconductor nanocrystals. Polymers with a low band gap more efficiently collect solar radiation and semiconductor nanocrystals such as zinc oxide are advantageous because of their high electron mobility compared to organic molecules, solution processing, and tunable band gap. This research studies for the first time the morphology and charge transport properties of zinc oxide nanocrystal and low band gap polymer hybrid photovoltaic devices. The project will include two main components: The first objective is characterization of the interaction and charge transport properties between low band gap polymers and zinc oxide nanocrystals in various morphologies using various types of spectroscopy and microscopy. The second parallel objective is to investigate the photovoltaic performance of hybrid devices using the insights gained from spectroscopy and microscopy.In addition to the obvious benefit of increased knowledge about organic photovoltaic materials for solar energy conversion, this research will help develop new international collaboration between the PI and research groups at Seoul National University in Seoul, South Korea (Prof. ChangHee Lee and Prof. Do Yeung Yoon), at the Max Plank Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, Germany (Prof. Klaus Müllen), and at Boston University in Boston, USA (Prof. Kenneth J. Rothschild).