Safakath Karuthedath, Ph.D

Alumni and Former Staff

Research Scientist in Laquai Group​ 2016-2022; Current Position: Assistant Professor at Tsinghua University

Social Profile:

Research Interests

Safakath’s research interests are ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy and degradation studies of conjugated polymers, organic small molecule and perovskite based solar cells and thin films. He focuses on understanding photo-physics of organic/perovskite solar cells in order to improve efficiency and stability of organic photovoltaics.​

Selected Publications

 

  • Trace Solvent additives enhance charge generation in layer-by-layer coated organic solar cells, S. Karuthedath, Y. Firdaus, A. Scaccabarozzi, T. D. Anthopoulos, F. Laquai, Small Structures, 3, 4, 2100199  (2022) [https://doi.org/10.1002/sstr.202100199].
  • Intrinsic efficiency limits in low-bandgap non-fullerene acceptor organic solar cells 
    Karuthedath, S., Gorenflot, J., Firdaus, Y. et al.
    Nature Materials, (2020)
  • Long-range exciton diffusion in molecular non-fullerene acceptors 
    Y. Firdaus, V. M. Le Corre, S. Karuthedath,. et al.
    Nature Communications, (2020)
  • Miscibility-Controlled Phase Separation in Double-Cable Conjugated Polymers for Single-Component Organic Solar Cell... 
    X. Jiang, Z. Ma, S. Karuthedath, J. Li, W. Lai, C. Li, C. Xiao, L. Ye, F. Laquai ,Z. Tang,...
    Angewandte Chemie, (2020)
  • Build-up of Triplet State Population in Operating TQ1:PC71BM Devices Does Not Limit Their Performance 
    Safakath Karuthedath, Julien Gorenflot, Armantas Melianas, Zhipeng Kan, Martijn Kemerink, ...
    The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, (2020)
  • Deciphering the Role of Fluorination: Morphological Manipulation Prompts Charge Separation and Reduces Carrier Reco... 
    Hua Tang, Cenqi Yan, Safakath Karuthedath, Hang Yin, Yajun Gao, Jie Gao, Lerun Zhang, Jiam...
    Solar RRL, (2020)
  • Highly Crystalline Near-Infrared Acceptor Enabling Simultaneous Efficiency and Photostability Boosting in High-Perf... 
    Hang Yin, Chujun Zhang, Hanlin Hu, Safakath Karuthedath, Yajun Gao, Hua Tang, Cenqi Yan, L...
    ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, (2019)
  • Impact of Fullerene on the Photophysics of Ternary Small Molecule Organic Solar Cells 
    Safakath Karuthedath, Yuliar Firdaus, Ru‐Ze Liang, Julien Gorenflot, Pierre M. Beaujuge, T...
    Advanced Energy Materials, (2019)
  • Charge and Triplet Exciton Generation in Neat PC70BM Films and Hybrid CuSCN:PC70BM Solar Cells. 
    S. Karuthedath, J. Gorenflot, Y. Firdaus, W-Y. Sit, F. Eisner, A. Seitkhan, M. K.Ravva, T....
    Advanced Energy Materials 9 (1), 1802476, (2019)
  • Thermal Annealing Reduces Geminate Recombination in TQ1:N2200 Based Organic Solar Cells 
    S. Karuthedath, A. Melianas, Z. Kan, V. Pranculis, M. Wohlfahrt, J.I. Khan, J. Gorenflot, ...
    Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 6, 7428-7438, (2018)
  • Efficient Long - Range Electron Transfer Processes in Polyfluorene – Perylene Diimide Blends 
    A. Isakova, S. Karuthedath, T. Arnold, J. R. Howse, P. D. Topham, D. T. W. Toolan, F. Laq...
    Nanoscale, (2018)

Education

  • P.hD. in Condensed Matter Physics, IMDEA Nanoscience,  Madrid, Spain and Universidad Autonema de Madrid (UAM), Spain , 2015
  • M.Sc tech in Photonics, National Institute of Technology Calicut (NITC), Kerala, India, 2011
  • B.Sc in Physics, University of Calicut, Kerala, India, 2008

Professional Profile

  • 2022: Research Scientist, KAUST, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
  • 2016-2021: Postdoctoral fellow, KAUST, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
  • 2012-2015: PhD student, IMDEA Nanociencia, Madrid, Spain
  • 2013-2014: PhD student ( exchange student within Marie Curie ITN), University of Vilnius, Lithuania
  • 2010-2011: Research student, Raman Research Institute Bangalore, India

Awards

  • Marie Curie ITN fellowship (2012-2015)

KAUST Affiliations

  • KAUST Solar Center (KSC)
  • Division of Physical Science and Engineering (PSE)

Research Interests Keywords

​Transient absorption spectroscopy organic solar cells Perovskites Time-resolved photoluminescence Photo-physics