​KSC Seminar: Polymers, molecular acceptors, and metal oxides for organic and perovskite solar cells

Speaker: Prof. Antonio Facchetti

Department of Chemistry and the Materials Research Center, Northwestern University; Flexterra Inc.

Date & Time: Wednesday February 6th at 2pm

Venue: Bldg. 5, Room 5220

Light refreshments will be provided. 

Abstract: In this presentation we will report the molecular design by DFT computations, synthesis, and molecular and structural characterization of new molecular building blocks and polymeric materials for organic photovoltaic cells. New donor-acceptor polymers achieving good fill factors (~ 80) based on BTI cores, large V_oc (>1 V) based on the isoDPP core, and new bezothiadiazole-based polymers with combined large currents and low loss (< 0.5 eV) will also be presented, enabling PCEs > 12 %. Furthermore, we demonstrate new synthetic strategies to semiconducting polymers using DARP, which enable charge transport and efficiencies comparable to those achieved with conventional Stille polycondensations. In addition, new molecular acceptors are presented with an emphasis to the effect of regiochemistry and core substitution. Finally, new organic and oxide interlayers are used for realizing perovskite cells with decent efficiencies of ~ 20%.

Biography: Antonio Facchetti obtained his Laurea degree in Chemistry cum laude and a Ph.D. in Chemical Sciences from the University of Milan. In 2002 he joined Northwestern University where he is currently an Adjunct Professor of Chemistry. He is a co-founder and currently the Chief Technology Officer of Flexterra Corporation. Dr. Facchetti has published more than 450 research articles, 13 book chapters, and holds more than 120 patents (H-index 94). He received the 2009 Italian Chemical Society Research Prize, the team IDTechEx Printed Electronics Europe 2010 Award, the corporate 2011 Flextech Award. In 2010 was elected a Kavli Fellow, in 2012 a Fellow of the American Association for the Advanced of Science (AAAS), in 2013 Fellow of the Materials Research Society, in 2015 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and in 2016 a Fellow of the ACS Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering. In 2010 he was selected among the "TOP 100 MATERIALS SCIENTISTS OF THE PAST DECADE (2000-2010)" by Thomson Reuters and in 2015/2016/2017 recognized as a Highly Cited Scientist. In 2016 he has been elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and was awarded the 2016 ACS Award for Creative Invention. In 2017 he was awarded the Giulio Natta Gold Medal from the Italian Chemical Society for his work on polymeric materials.