Honorary Lecture of Professor Jacques-Edouard Moser
Dynamics of light-induced charge separation in emerging photovoltaic systems
Abstract
Photoinduced interfacial electron transfer and charge separation into free carriers are key processes that govern the efficiency of third generation photovoltaic technologies based on donor-acceptor heterojunctions. Rather than relying on an electric field to separate charges of opposite signs, these technologies are based on a kinetic competition between electron transfer and recombination processes. Therefore, it is necessary to employ time-resolved nanosecond to femtosecond spectroscopic methods to enhance the fundamental understanding of implied mechanisms and provide vital information that can aide in furthering material and device design. A combination of ultrafast optical and terahertz techniques was applied to scrutinize the dynamics of photoinduced charge generation, separation, and transport in a variety of dye-sensitized, organic, and hybrid lead halide perovskite solar cells, as well as in strongly confined two-dimensional layers and nanoplatelets. Results obtained over the years evidence the convergence of the various emerging photovoltaic technologies and suggest a common picture for free carrier generation and separation in all types of donor-acceptor heterojunction systems.
Biosketch
Jacques-Edouard Moser graduated as a chemical engineer and obtained a doctorate (PhD) in physical chemistry (Michael Grätzel, thesis advisor) from the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in 1982 and 1986, respectively.
He joined the Eastman Kodak Corporate Research Laboratories at Rochester, New York (USA) in 1986 as a postdoctoral fellow and was later associated with the NSF Center for Photoinduced Charge Transfer at the University of Rochester. Back in Switzerland, he was appointed lecturer in physical chemistry at EPFL in 1992 and was awarded the habilitation and the venia legendi in 1998. He was named titular professor in 2005.
Since 2005, he has led the Group for Photochemical Dynamics at EPFL's Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, where his research has primarily focused on the ultrafast dynamics of photogenerated charge carriers at donor-acceptor interfaces.
Jacques-E. Moser presided the Swiss Society of Photochemistry and Photophysics (SGPP). He was a member of the central board of the Swiss Chemical Society, a member of the standing committee of the European Photochemistry Association and a member of the executive committee of the Division for Fundamental Research of the Swiss Chemical Society. He was director of the Section of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at EPFL and member of the direction of the School of Basic Sciences from 2007 to 2015.
Agenda
Abstract
Photoinduced interfacial electron transfer and charge separation into free carriers are key processes that govern the efficiency of third generation photovoltaic technologies based on donor-acceptor heterojunctions. Rather than relying on an electric field to separate charges of opposite signs, these technologies are based on a kinetic competition between electron transfer and recombination processes. Therefore, it is necessary to employ time-resolved nanosecond to femtosecond spectroscopic methods to enhance the fundamental understanding of implied mechanisms and provide vital information that can aide in furthering material and device design. A combination of ultrafast optical and terahertz techniques was applied to scrutinize the dynamics of photoinduced charge generation, separation, and transport in a variety of dye-sensitized, organic, and hybrid lead halide perovskite solar cells, as well as in strongly confined two-dimensional layers and nanoplatelets. Results obtained over the years evidence the convergence of the various emerging photovoltaic technologies and suggest a common picture for free carrier generation and separation in all types of donor-acceptor heterojunction systems.
Biosketch
Jacques-Edouard Moser graduated as a chemical engineer and obtained a doctorate (PhD) in physical chemistry (Michael Grätzel, thesis advisor) from the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in 1982 and 1986, respectively.
He joined the Eastman Kodak Corporate Research Laboratories at Rochester, New York (USA) in 1986 as a postdoctoral fellow and was later associated with the NSF Center for Photoinduced Charge Transfer at the University of Rochester. Back in Switzerland, he was appointed lecturer in physical chemistry at EPFL in 1992 and was awarded the habilitation and the venia legendi in 1998. He was named titular professor in 2005.
Since 2005, he has led the Group for Photochemical Dynamics at EPFL's Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, where his research has primarily focused on the ultrafast dynamics of photogenerated charge carriers at donor-acceptor interfaces.
Jacques-E. Moser presided the Swiss Society of Photochemistry and Photophysics (SGPP). He was a member of the central board of the Swiss Chemical Society, a member of the standing committee of the European Photochemistry Association and a member of the executive committee of the Division for Fundamental Research of the Swiss Chemical Society. He was director of the Section of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at EPFL and member of the direction of the School of Basic Sciences from 2007 to 2015.
Agenda
17.15 - 18.15 Honorary Lecture
Links
Practical information
- General public
- Free
Contact
- Marta Ruiz Cumi