Dr. Antonio Abate sets up a new Helmholtz Young Investigator Group to improve life span of perovskite solar cells

Dr. Antonio Abate

Dr. Antonio Abate

Dr. Antonio Abate sets up a Helmholtz Young Investigator Group at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin and moved to Berlin a few days ago. His aim: He wants to improve Perovskite solar cells which are one of the most promising material classes to be discovered in the last few years. The scientist will study the materials and interfaces of perovskite solar cells in order to improve their long-term stability.

Antonio Abate came out on top in a highly competitive selection process of the Helmholtz Association and will now receive 300,000 euros per year in funding over a period of five years. He researched, among other places, at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England. He then received a Marie-Skłodowska-Curie grant to work at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland. He currently heads the photovoltaic activities at the Adolphe Merkle Institute of the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.

Aims of the Young Investigator Group “Active Materials and Interfaces for Stable Perovskite Solar Cells”

The photovoltaics industry has always been dominated by silicon-based solar cells. Originally expensive to make, production costs steadily dropped over time to the point where, now, there are practically no savings potentials left in the manufacturing processes for this technology. Accordingly, we need a new generation of cheap and efficient solar cells. Perovskite solar cells are especially promising. Their efficiency has increased very rapidly in recent years. The long-term stability of these cells is crucial for their economic viability, and yet this criterion is still barely studied. Antonio Abate’s goal is now to develop stable perovskite solar cells with an operating life exceeding 25 years.

"To achieve this goal, I want to improve our understanding of the optoelectronic mechanisms responsible for the degradation of material inside perovskite solar cells. I am researching both the fundamental principles and the processing of these solar cells in order to actively control the interfaces between the various layers", said the scientist. Antonio Abate is looking to cooperate with internationally leading research groups and industrial partners from the electronics industry to ensure the development of this technology is genuinely promoted – from materials and components to full PV systems.

About the “Helmholtz Young Investigators” programme

The research programme fosters highly qualified young researchers who completed their doctorate three to six years ago. The heads of the Young Investigator Groups receive support through a tailored training and mentoring programme. The aim of the programme is to strengthen the networking of Helmholtz centres and universities, too. More

(sz)


You might also be interested in

  • Best Innovator Award 2023 for Artem Musiienko
    News
    22.03.2024
    Best Innovator Award 2023 for Artem Musiienko
    Dr. Artem Musiienko has been awarded a special prize for his groundbreaking new method for characterising semiconductors. At the recent annual conference of the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) in Milan, Italy, he received the MCAA Award for the best innovation. Since 2023, Musiienko has been carrying out his research project with a postdoctoral fellowship from the Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions in Antonio Abate's department, Novel Materials and Interfaces for Photovoltaic Solar Cells (SE-AMIP).
  • The future of BESSY
    News
    07.03.2024
    The future of BESSY
    At the end of February 2024, a team at HZB published an article in Synchrotron Radiation News (SRN). They describe the next development goals for the light source as well as the BESSY II+ upgrade programme and the successor source BESSY III.

  • ERC Consolidator Grant for HZB researcher Robert Seidel
    News
    04.03.2024
    ERC Consolidator Grant for HZB researcher Robert Seidel
    Physicist Dr Robert Seidel has been awarded a Consolidator Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). Over the next five years, he will receive a total of two million euros for his research project WATER-X. Seidel will use state-of-the-art X-ray techniques at BESSY II to study nanoparticles in aqueous solution for the photocatalytic production of "green" hydrogen.