Special Seminar
Name: Prof. Mats Andersson
Affiliation: Flinders Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia
Title: Unconventionally low donor content in efficient polymer solar cells and photocatalytic nanoparticles
Date & Time: Friday, 19th September 2025 at 04:00 p.m.
Venue: Rajarshi Bhattacharyya Memorial Lecture Hall, Chemical Sciences Building
Abstract:
Polymer solar cells have gained considerable interest during the last decades. Over the last years, the photovoltaic performance has increased rapidly with high power conversion for lab-scale devices. Our efforts have mainly been focused on the design and synthesis of new materials, but also on morphology control and printing of solar cells. The thermal stability of solar cell materials and interfaces is a prerequisite, as solar cells are often exposed to elevated temperatures during fabrication and operation. Our work includes morphology studied by dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMA). Compared to normal DMA measurements, the materials are deposited onto a supporting substrate. The technique is a highly sensitive method for determining the Tg of materials, including sub-Tg transitions and melting points.
Completely amorphous indacenodithiophene based polymers were synthesized and used in solar cells combined with the Y6 acceptor material. Low donor:acceptor (D:A) ratios are generally believed to yield lower efficiency than the more conventional 1:1.2 ratio. However, the solar cells exhibit a peak performance over 11% PCE at a D:A ratio of 1:5. Unexpectedly, as the polymer proportion increases, a reduced photovoltaic performance is observed. Similarly, nanoparticles made of the materials and used for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution show an analogous trend with a peak performance at a D:A ratio of 1:6.7.
Biography:
Mats Andersson performed a joint PhD-work at the Departments of Organic Chemistry and Polymer Technology, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden, and received his PhD in Organic Chemistry in 1995. He was appointed Professor in Polymer Chemistry in 2004, and he held a chair in Polymer Chemistry from 2007 to 2015. In 2012, he was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. In 2013, he was awarded a South Australian Chair in Energy, and in 2014, Mats moved to Adelaide, Australia, to join the University of South Australia as a Research Professor. In 2017, he moved to Flinders University, Adelaide, as a Matthew Flinders Professor, and he is currently the director of the Flinders Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology. His research interests focus on structure–property relationships of different functional materials. Currently, his research includes printed polymer solar cells, new antifouling coatings, single-atom electrochemical catalysis and photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.