Cost-Effective Charge-Transport Materials for New-Generation Solar Cells

The European Union adopted an ambitious and much-needed European Green Deal policy to make Europe the world's first climate-neutral continent by 2050.

Harvesting solar energy from photovoltaics (PVs) is a promising way to tackle today’s energy issues and to contribute to the European Green Deal.

New-generation PV technologies (such as those based on organic semiconductors and metal halide perovskites) offer many benefits compared to traditional silicon-based solar panels in terms of lightweight, aesthetic, and flexibility. As such, they are promising candidates to complement silicon-based PVs for our sustainable future.

A key challenge that currently limits the practical application of these new-generation PVs is the high cost of charge-transport materials, a critical component of these new PV technologies.This project aims to address this critical challenge and bridge the knowledge gap on the cost of charge-transport materials for these new-generation PVs.

This project is firmly based on our recent breakthrough which successfully developed high-efficiency new-generation PVs with excellent stability (published in Science and patent application ongoing). At the core of this project is rational materials development, coupled with device engineering.

Utilizing our prior research experience and our start-up, LinXole, we will develop novel charge-transport materials that are free of synthetic complexity and, eventually, low enough in price to be commercially viable.

This project will achieve a new paradigm for low-cost new-generation PVs, contributing to the European energy transition.

We have also built a strong team with complementary expertise for this project, including researchers, business developers, entrepreneurs, and innovation advisors. As such, we are keen to contribute to market expansion by delivering technology solutions for modern energy services.