Posterprize for HZB postdoc Prince Saurabh Bassi
Bassi presented results on new phases in the quaternary Fe-Ti-W-O system for application as photoelectrocatalyst in light-assisted water splitting. © HZB
Dr. Prince Saurabh Bassi was awarded the poster prize at “International Bunsen-Discussion-Meeting on Fundamentals and Applications of (Photo) Electrolysis for Efficient Energy Storage”. He is a postdoctoral fellow working with Prof. Sebastian Fiechter in the Institute for Solar Fuels.
The poster was titled: “Survey and Synthesis of Photoactive Phases in the Quaternary System Fe-Ti-W-O Supported by Combinatorial Screening Experiments”. It was chosen from 53 posters presented during two poster sessions of the conference with 150 participants. The meeting was held in Taormina, Italy from 1st to 5th April 2019. The prize was sponsored by the Royal Society of Chemistry (Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B and C and Materials Horizons). A book voucher was also gifted to him by the society.
In the poster, Bassi presented latest results on the survey and synthesis of new phases in the quaternary Fe-Ti-W-O system for application as photoelectrocatalyst in light-assisted water splitting. The inability to find systems possessing favorable characteristics like optimum band gap for efficient solar light absorption and electrochemical, aqueous and thermodynamic stability, have led the scientific community to explore complex ternary and quaternary oxide systems. Since they encompass complimentary properties of their constituent binary oxides, their properties can be tuned by varying their stoichiometry.
He fabricated thin film photoelectrodes of the hit composition Fe48Ti30W22Ox, obtained from the combinatorial screening, using a simple spin coating route. The structural analysis revealed that - after temperature annealing – a new quaternary oxide appeared crystallizing in a distorted Ferberite structure together with the ternary phases Fe2TiO5 and Fe1.7Ti0.23O3. His work proves to be a bridge between combinatorial studies and thin film fabrication and characterization of photoactive hit region compositions.
- CIGS-perovskite tandem cell achieves record efficiency of 25.5 %A Berlin-based team from HZB and Center for the Science of Materials Berlin (CSMB) at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin has set a new record for a tandem solar cell. Using a combination of a CIGS semiconductor layer and perovskite, along with several optimised intermediate layers, they were able to convert 25.5% of sunlight into electrical energy. The previous record for this combination of materials and this size of cell stood at 24.6%. The new record has been certified and is visible in the prestigious Solar Cell Efficiency Tables (the "Green Tables"), which serve as the definitive ledger for the global photovoltaic community.
- Perovskite solar cells: Predictions of long-term stabilityReliable statements about the long-term stability of perovskite solar cells are still difficult to make. However, a new study by Dr Carolin Ulbrich’s team, published in the renowned journal Joule, highlights which methods are useful for this purpose and identifies areas where further research is needed.
- AI agents deliver results – but do they reason scientifically?A research team co-led by Kevin Maik Jablonka from the Helmholtz Institute for Polymers in Energy Applications Jena (HIPOLE Jena) and N. M. Anoop Krishnan from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi has developed Corral, a new benchmark for AI agents in science. The preprint “AI scientists produce results without reasoning scientifically” has been published on arXiv (https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2604.18805). The analysis shows that current systems can execute scientific workflows and deliver results; however, they often do not follow the basic principles of scientific testing and reasoning.