New Materials for Photovoltaics: HZB starting its first own Graduate School
Prof. Susann Schorr with participants of Graduate School MatSEC
Well-structured Ph.D. program
New HZB Graduate School: Ph.D. candidates to study materials for energy conversion
Yesterday’s workshop was the official starting signal for the opening of the Helmholtz Center Berlin’s new Materials for Solar Energy Conversion (MatSEC) Graduate School. MatSEC is the first HZB graduate training program for the Center’s doctoral students. The school is located at the Dahlem Research School (DRS) of the Freie Universität Berlin (FU Berlin). Up to ten Ph.D. students will be able to take advantage of MatSEC’s course offerings while working towards their degree.
The MatSEC graduate school’s focus is on the study of kesterites, a new class of materials used in photovoltaics. Kesterites are considered highly promising absorption film candidates for thin-film photovoltaics and could potentially double as photoelectrodes for splitting water using solar energy. The ultimate goal is to arrive at a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between this connecting semiconductor’s internal structure and its properties. This knowledge could aid researchers in developing customized materials for use in more cost-effective and efficient solar cells.
Prof. Dr. Susan Schorr, head of the Department for Crystallography at the HZB and a professor at FU Berlin, is the new graduate school’s spokesperson. Research groups at FU Berlin, the Technical University of Berlin, the Humboldt University of Berlin, and the Brandenburg University of Technology in Cottbus are all partners of the new graduate school. “It is precisely in this interdisciplinary research structure that MatSEC’s strengths lie,” says Schorr.
Doctoral students attend lectures that are relevant to their research at the different participating university campuses. Workshops, study abroad programs, and course offerings at the Dahlem Research School complement the program. “We’re thrilled that we’re able to offer seven additional spots for students as part of our graduate program,” says Gabriele Lampert, Ph.D. coordinator at the HZB.
- Lithium-sulphur batteries with lean electrolyte: problem areas clarifiedUsing a non-destructive method, a team at HZB investigated practical lithium-sulphur pouch cells with lean electrolyte for the first time. With operando neutron tomography, they could visualise in real-time how the liquid electrolyte distributes and wets the electrodes across multilayers during charging and discharging. These findings offer valuable insights into the cell failure mechanisms and are helpful to design compact Li-S batteries with a high energy density in formats relevant to industrial applications.
- Self assembling monolayer can improve lead-free perovskite solar cells tooTin perovskite solar cells are not only non-toxic, but also potentially more stable than lead-containing perovskite solar cells. However, they are also significantly less efficient. Now, an international team has succeeded in reducing losses in the lower contact layer of tin perovskite solar cells: The scienstists identified chemical compounds that self-assemble into a molecular layer that fits very well with the lattice structure of tin perovskites. On this monolayer, tin perovskite with excellent optoelectronic quality can be grown, which increases the performance of the solar cell.
- Berlin Science Award goes to Philipp AdelhelmBattery researcher Prof. Dr. Philipp Adelhelm has been awarded the 2024 Berlin Science Award. He is a professor at the Institute of Chemistry at Humboldt University in Berlin (HU) and heads a joint research group at HU and the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB). The materials scientist and electrochemist is investigating sustainable batteries, which play a key role in the success of the energy transition. He is one of the leading international experts in the field of sodium-ion batteries.