Project description
Key breakthroughs to enable future perovskite optoelectronics solutions
Advances in photovoltaics (PVs) have made renewable energy much more sustainable, accessible, profitable, and efficient. Furthermore, it has allowed the development and broader use of novel PV technologies, such as indoor photovoltaics. Despite these advances, many PV technologies still struggle to sustain billion-scale connected objects, with silicon PVs or other carbon-based alternatives being too bulky, costly, or unsustainable. The ERC-funded ELOW-DI project will develop intrinsically stable low-dimensional perovskites (LDPs) and control material nucleation and thin-film morphology to optimise charge extraction and minimise unwanted recombination in devices. The project will focus on perovskite dimensionality as a key element in increasing visible-light conversion efficiency and unlocking device instability.
Objective
Engineering new solutions for powering smart portable devices is key to sustain billion-scale connected objects and to provide a greener alternative to batteries. Indoor Photovoltaics (PVs) - with a projected market of $850 million by 2023 - relying on conversion of visible indoor light- can sustain this challenge, capitalizing on the development of flexible, semi-transparent, colored and easily integrated energy generation devices.
Despite the urgency and the large market potential, current PV technologies mostly fail, leveraging on rigid and bulky systems fabricated by energy-intensive processes (i.e. Silicon PVs) or on carbon-based technologies not yet in the market for their insufficient durability.
Hybrid perovskites with wide band gap (2eV), with their easy tunability, structural flexibility, and lightweight, hold the potential for a transformative solution in visible PVs. However, lower efficiency compared to low-band gap ones, reliance on toxic elements and insufficient stability hamper their scaling up.
ELOW-DI faces this challenge by engineering the perovskite dimensionality as the key variable to unlock device instability while allowing for efficient visible light conversion. This will be obtained i) by developing intrinsically stable low-dimensional perovskites (LDPs) – leveraging on non-toxic elements and stable hydrophobic units and 2) by controlling material nucleation and consequent thin film morphology to obtain vertically oriented crystalline nanopillars, essential to ensure efficient charge extraction in the device while reducing unwanted recombination.
Upon the demonstration of the proof of concept on lab-scale, research will be moved to a completely new direction by engineering large area devices while ensuring the scalability of the nanoscale material properties. ELOW-DI is timely, and it will generate the new multidisciplinary knowledge – from material to device engineering- which is now needed for the next-gen of indoor PV solutions.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences physical sciences electromagnetism and electronics optoelectronics
- natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry metalloids
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels renewable energy solar energy photovoltaic
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2024-COG
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27100 Pavia
Italy
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