Discovery of new lead-free inorganic materials for photovoltaic applications

目的是通过设计和合成新的无机固体，结合先进的结构分析（晶体学）和物理性质测量，发现新的太阳能收集材料。最近铅基钙钛矿的突破表明了新型吸收剂的重要性，但诸如杂化钙钛矿甲基铵三碘化铅等材料在稳定性、可持续性和毒性方面仍存在未解决的问题。该项目建立在我们最近发现的具有独特结构的新型无铅吸收剂家族的基础上。你将探索和理解新的卤化物和硫族化合物的封闭壳，无毒，富土元素的固态化学，发现和表征新的吸收剂，从而开发一种新的材料方法来解决这个问题。我们与凝聚态物理和设备制造领域的领先团队密切合作，以便快速评估应用中的新材料。该项目将结合合成固态化学、高级结构分析（晶体学）和物理性质测量，并有机会在项目期间专注于其中一个或多个方面。目标新材料包含已知的关键结构特征，对于优化太阳能吸收器的行为很重要，例如紧密排列的卤化物晶格。你将发展材料合成的技能，包括空气敏感技术和溶液处理，以及通过x射线衍射（实验室和同步加速器）和光学和电子能谱进行结构表征。有前途的材料将与我们的合作者一起加工成简单的光伏器件，将性能与结构和成分联系起来。

The aim is to discover new solar harvesting materials through the design and synthesis of new inorganic solids coupled with advanced structural analysis (crystallography) and physical property measurement. Recent breakthroughs in lead-based perovskites show the importance of new absorbers, but materials such as the hybrid perovskite methyl ammonium lead triiodide have unsolved problems associated with stability, sustainability and toxicity. This project builds on our recent discovery of a new family of lead-free absorbers with distinct structures. You will explore and understand the new halide and chalcogenide solid state chemistry of closed shell, non-toxic, earth abundant elements, discovering and characterising new absorbers, and thus developing a new materials approach to this problem. We collaborate closely with leading groups in condensed matter physics and device manufacture to allow rapid evaluation of the new materials in applications.The project will combine synthetic solid-state chemistry, advanced structural analysis (crystallography) and measurement of physical properties, with the opportunity to focus on one or more of these aspects during the project. The targeted new materials contain key structural features known to be important in optimising solar absorber behaviour, such as close-packed halide lattices. You will develop skills in materials synthesis, including air-sensitive techniques and solution processing, and in structural characterisation by X-ray diffraction (laboratory and synchrotron) and optical and electronic spectroscopy. Promising materials will be processed into simple photovoltaic devices with our collaborators to relate properties and performance with structure and composition.