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Description
The Donor-State (DS) partners are Reykjavik University – RU (Prof. Andrei Manolescu) and University of Oslo – UiO (Prof. Andrej Kuznetsov) are currently involved in an EEA research project (Perovskite Large Area Photovoltaics – PERLA-PV – 2021-2023), concerning the development of new perovskite materials and optimizations PSC structures for large area photovoltaic modules. The mobility project coordinator (Assoc. Prof. George Alexandru Nemnes, University of Bucharest) is also involved in the PERLA-PV project [ http://perla-pv.ro ]. This follows another completed EEA project (Perovskites for Photovoltaic Efficient Conversion Technology – PERPHECT – 2014-2017), where University of Bucharest – UB (Assoc. Prof. George Alexandru Nemnes) was partner alongside with RU and UiO, a project which was successful for understanding the degradation processes and hysteretic effects in PSCs. [ https://eeagrants.org/archive/2009-2014/projects/RO14-0015 ] . In both EEA projects, the coordinator is the National Institute for Materials Physics – NIMP (Dr. Ioana Pintilie).
The current project will strengthen the dissemination of the main results obtained within the ongoing EEA reasearch project, PERLA-PV, as well as of the specific numerical and experimental techniques to a broader group, of both students and academic staff, which will further stimulate the research in the field of PSCs.
Summary of project results
The inter-institutional agreements was set up with the global aim to strengthen the collaboration, on topics concerning the improvement of perovskite solar cells, taking into account complementary knowledge of the donor and partner institutions.
The required informations were communicated between the partners using online meetings and per email.
The quality and management issues were addressed by Prof. George Alexandru Nemnes (UB), Prof. Andrei Manolescu (RU) and Prof. Andrej Kuznetsov (UiO), who prepared the bilateral agreements, invitations and reporting, periodic evaluation of progress in the case of student mobilities, attendance certificates etc and handled the other administrative issues related to the mobilities (information concerning housing and city travel).
The monitoring of student activity was performed by periodic discussions with senior academic staff involved in the project and by reporting the results during the mobility stages. During their training stage at RU, the PhD students N. Filipoiu, A. Preda and I. Ghitiu had talks at the local seminar. The acquired knowledge shall be further used within their PhD programs. In connection with the workshop organized at UB, the PhD students N. Filipoiu, A. Preda and I. Ghitiu were amongst the speakers. The progress of A. Cristache (MSc student, outgoing to UiO), who finalized her dissertation thesis in July 2023, was periodically assessed. Weekly online meetings with the students abroad were also held. For academic staff the results were shared with colleagues in local seminars. G.A. Nemnes was invited to give a plenary talk in the opening of the Scientific Communications Session 2023 of the Faculty of Physics, University of Bucharest.
(1,2) Two papers were realized :
1. “Capacitive and Inductive Effects in Perovskite Solar Cells: The Different Roles of Ionic Current and Ionic Charge Accumulation”, N. Filipoiu, A.T. Preda, D.V. Anghel, R. Patru, R.E. Brophy, M. Kateb, C. Besleaga, A.G. Tomulescu, I. Pintilie, A. Manolescu, and G.A. Nemnes, Phys. Rev. Appl. 18, 064087 (2022)
2. “Effect of Pressure on the Dynamics of Iodide Defects in Methylammonium Lead Iodide: An Atomistic Simulation“, Rachel Elizabeth Brophy, Movaffaq Kateb, Kristinn Torfason, George Alexandru Nemnes, Halldor Gudfinnur Svavarsson, Ioana Pintilie and Andrei Manolescu, J. Phys. Chem. C , 127, 7938 (2023)
(1,2) Workshop organized by UB: DFT based calculations for the electronic properties of perovskite – electron/hole transporter layers
(3) Molecular dynamics simulations using LAMMPS software (RU)
(4) As seen from the two published papers. Others are in preparation.
Number of students from beneficiary states in exchanges (disaggregated by gender and Donor State) -4
Number of staff from beneficiary states in exchanges (disaggregated by gender and Donor State) -2
Number of staff from donor states in exchanges (disaggregated by gender and Donor State) - 2
The perovskite solar cells are regarded as potential replacement for the standard silicon based photovoltaic technology. The project envisioned the development of new theoretical methods for an accurate simulation of the material properties and device characteristics, together with electrical measurements to assess the solar cells efficiencies and this knowledge has been handed on to the students during their practice activities.
The UB - University of Bucharest conducted visits at Reykjavik University (RU), the Department of Engineering and at University of Oslo (UiO) - (this new partner was approved during the implementation of the project ), Centre for Materials Science and Nanotechnology (SMN). In collaboration with Prof. Andrei Manolescu (RU), Prof. Andrej Kuznetsov (UiO) and their research groups there were implemented numerical simulations for describing the operation of perovskite solar cells, were performed the characterization of thin films and were investigated the processes that lead to solar cell degradation. The results were disseminated during the seminars held by academic staff and students involved in the mobility stages and at the workshop organized at the Faculty of Physics, University of Bucharest: “Hands on DFT atomistic calculations and machine learning techniques”. Computer programs for the simulation of the I-V characteristics and small signal analysis were provided and subsequently implemented on the Simphys online platform (http://simphys.fizica.unibuc.ro:8008), designed for teaching activities and research.
The main result is the development of an equivalent circuit model which explains the hysteretic effects observed in the dynamic J-V characteristics as well as the capacitive and inductive effects evidenced in the small signal analysis. The results obtained during this collaboration enhanced the knowledge of students and academic staff alike in the rapidly advancing field of perovskite solar cells.
The project strengthened the bilateral collaborations, which materialized in a better understanding of perovskite materials, in particular ion migration phenomena, which is closely related to the solar cell degradation. This will create the opportunity to mitigate the undesired effects and further advancements in photovoltaic technology.
Summary of bilateral results
The activities were performed in partnership with donor institutions RU - Reykjavik University and UiO - the Department of Engineering and at University of Oslo (this new partner was approved during the implementation of the project ). With regards to numerical simulations, the codes for the equivalent circuit description of the PSCs were elaborated by members of the partner institution (UB - University of Bucharest), while the tuning of the model was achieved in collaboration with RU. This was possible, as RU members investigated the microscopic details of iodine migration. In this context, the RU members developed molecular dynamics simulations of iodine migration in perovskite layers was performed using a dedicated software package (LAMMPS). These activities resulted in the publication in co-authorship (UB and RU) of the two papers indicated before. In addition, hole transporter layer simulations using DFT were calibrated using the knowledge from experimental point of view on similar structures at UiO. Also, electrical measurements on the hole transporter layers were performed at UiO.The scientific collaborations between the partner (UB) and donor institutions (RU and UiO) are planned to continue, as well as the activities in the PERLA-PV research project (http://perla-pv.ro). In fact, a new EEA mobility project involving UB and RU is underway on a topic related to novel materials for quantum computing.