Tom J. Savenije

Bio: Tom J. Savenije is an academic researcher from Delft University of Technology. The author has contributed to research in topics: Charge carrier & Perovskite (structure). The author has an hindex of 50, co-authored 147 publications receiving 10380 citations. Previous affiliations of Tom J. Savenije include University of Würzburg.

Maximizing and stabilizing luminescence from halide perovskites with potassium passivation

Abstract: M.A.-J. thanks Nava Technology Limited and Nyak Technology Limited for their funding and technical support. Z.A.-G. acknowledges funding from a Winton Studentship, and ICON Studentship from the Lloyd’s Register Foundation. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under REA grant agreement number PIOF-GA-2013-622630, the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement number 756962), and the Royal Society and Tata Group (UF150033). We thank the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for support. XMaS is a mid-range facility at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility supported by the EPSRC and we are grateful to the XMaS beamline team staff for their support. We thank Diamond Light Source for access to beamline I09 and staff member T.-L. Lee as well as U. Cappel for assistance during the HAXPES measurements. S.C., C.D. and G.D. acknowledge funding from the ERC under grant number 25961976 PHOTO EM and financial support from the European Union under grant number 77 312483 ESTEEM2. M.A. thanks the president of the UAE’s Distinguished Student Scholarship Program, granted by the Ministry of Presidential Affairs. H.R. and B.P. acknowledge support from the Swedish research council (2014-6019) and the Swedish foundation for strategic research. E.M.H. and T.J.S. were supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research under the Echo grant number 712.014.007.

Organometal Halide Perovskite Solar Cell Materials Rationalized: Ultrafast Charge Generation, High and Microsecond-Long Balanced Mobilities, and Slow Recombination

Abstract: Organometal halide perovskite-based solar cells have recently been reported to be highly efficient, giving an overall power conversion efficiency of up to 15%. However, much of the fundamental photophysical properties underlying this performance has remained unknown. Here, we apply photoluminescence, transient absorption, time-resolved terahertz and microwave conductivity measurements to determine the time scales of generation and recombination of charge carriers as well as their transport properties in solution-processed CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite materials. We found that electron–hole pairs are generated almost instantaneously after photoexcitation and dissociate in 2 ps forming highly mobile charges (25 cm2 V–1 s–1) in the neat perovskite and in perovskite/alumina blends; almost balanced electron and hole mobilities remain very high up to the microsecond time scale. When the perovskite is introduced into a TiO2 mesoporous structure, electron injection from perovskite to the metal oxide is efficient in less ...

Thermally Activated Exciton Dissociation and Recombination Control the Carrier Dynamics in Organometal Halide Perovskite

Abstract: Solar cells based on organometal halide perovskites have seen rapidly increasing efficiencies, now exceeding 15%. Despite this progress, there is still limited knowledge on the fundamental photophysics. Here we use microwave photoconductance and photoluminescence measurements to investigate the temperature dependence of the carrier generation, mobility, and recombination in (CH3NH3)PbI3. At temperatures maintaining the tetragonal crystal phase of the perovskite, we find an exciton binding energy of about 32 meV, leading to a temperature-dependent yield of highly mobile (6.2 cm(2)/(V s) at 300 K) charge carriers. At higher laser intensities, second-order recombination with a rate constant of γ = 13 × 10(-10) cm(3) s(-1) becomes apparent. Reducing the temperature results in increasing charge carrier mobilities following a T(-1.6) dependence, which we attribute to a reduction in phonon scattering (Σμ = 16 cm(2)/(V s) at 165 K). Despite the fact that Σμ increases, γ diminishes with a factor six, implying that charge recombination in (CH3NH3)PbI3 is temperature activated. The results underline the importance of the perovskite crystal structure, the exciton binding energy, and the activation energy for recombination as key factors in optimizing new perovskite materials.

The Origin of Slow Carrier Transport in BiVO4 Thin Film Photoanodes: A Time-Resolved Microwave Conductivity Study

Abstract: We unravel for the first time the origin of the poor carrier transport properties of BiVO4, a promising metal oxide photoanode for solar water splitting. Time-resolved microwave conductivity (TRMC) measurements reveal an (extrapolated) carrier mobility of ∼4 × 10–2 cm2 V–1 s–1 for undoped BiVO4 under ∼1 sun illumination conditions, which is unusually low for a photoanode material. The poor carrier mobility is compensated by an unexpectedly long carrier lifetime of 40 ns. This translates to a relatively long diffusion length of 70 nm, consistent with the high quantum efficiencies reported for BiVO4 photoanodes. Tungsten (W) doping is found to strongly decrease the carrier mobility by introducing intermediate-depth donor defects as carrier traps. At the same time, the increased carrier density improves the overall photoresponse, which confirms that bulk electronic conductivity is one of the main performance bottlenecks for BiVO4.

Dopant compensation in alloyed CH 3 NH 3 PbBr 3-x Cl x perovskite single crystals for gamma-ray spectroscopy

Abstract: Organic–inorganic halide perovskites (OIHPs) bring an unprecedented opportunity for radiation detection with their defect-tolerance nature, large mobility–lifetime product, and simple crystal growth from solution. Here we report a dopant compensation in alloyed OIHP single crystals to overcome limitations of device noise and charge collection, enabling γ-ray spectrum collection at room temperature. CH3NH3PbBr3 and CH3NH3PbCl3 are found to be p-type and n-type doped, respectively, whereas dopant-compensated CH3NH3PbBr2.94Cl0.06 alloy has over tenfold improved bulk resistivity of 3.6 × 109 Ω cm. Alloying also increases the hole mobility to 560 cm2 V−1 s−1, yielding a high mobility–lifetime product of 1.8 × 10−2 cm2 V−1. The use of a guard ring electrode in the detector reduces the crystal surface leakage current and device dark current. A distinguishable 137Cs energy spectrum with comparable or better resolution than standard scintillator detectors is collected under a small electric field of 1.8 V mm−1 at room temperature. Hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite single crystals with optimized combination of Cl and Br ions are used to fabricate γ-ray detectors operating at room temperature and competing with the performance of sodium iodide scintillators.

Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract: Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) offer the possibilities to design solar cells with a large flexibility in shape, color, and transparency. DSC research groups have been established around the worl ...

Conjugated polymer-based organic solar cells

Abstract: The need to develop inexpensive renewable energy sources stimulates scientific research for efficient, low-cost photovoltaic devices.1 The organic, polymer-based photovoltaic elements have introduced at least the potential of obtaining cheap and easy methods to produce energy from light.2 The possibility of chemically manipulating the material properties of polymers (plastics) combined with a variety of easy and cheap processing techniques has made polymer-based materials present in almost every aspect of modern society.3 Organic semiconductors have several advantages: (a) lowcost synthesis, and (b) easy manufacture of thin film devices by vacuum evaporation/sublimation or solution cast or printing technologies. Furthermore, organic semiconductor thin films may show high absorption coefficients4 exceeding 105 cm-1, which makes them good chromophores for optoelectronic applications. The electronic band gap of organic semiconductors can be engineered by chemical synthesis for simple color changing of light emitting diodes (LEDs).5 Charge carrier mobilities as high as 10 cm2/V‚s6 made them competitive with amorphous silicon.7 This review is organized as follows. In the first part, we will give a general introduction to the materials, production techniques, working principles, critical parameters, and stability of the organic solar cells. In the second part, we will focus on conjugated polymer/fullerene bulk heterojunction solar cells, mainly on polyphenylenevinylene (PPV) derivatives/(1-(3-methoxycarbonyl) propyl-1-phenyl[6,6]C61) (PCBM) fullerene derivatives and poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT)/PCBM systems. In the third part, we will discuss the alternative approaches such as polymer/polymer solar cells and organic/inorganic hybrid solar cells. In the fourth part, we will suggest possible routes for further improvements and finish with some conclusions. The different papers mentioned in the text have been chosen for didactical purposes and cannot reflect the chronology of the research field nor have a claim of completeness. The further interested reader is referred to the vast amount of quality papers published in this field during the past decade.

Long-Range Balanced Electron- and Hole-Transport Lengths in Organic-Inorganic CH3NH3PbI3

Abstract: Low-temperature solution-processed photovoltaics suffer from low efficiencies because of poor exciton or electron-hole diffusion lengths (typically about 10 nanometers). Recent reports of highly efficient CH3NH3PbI3-based solar cells in a broad range of configurations raise a compelling case for understanding the fundamental photophysical mechanisms in these materials. By applying femtosecond transient optical spectroscopy to bilayers that interface this perovskite with either selective-electron or selective-hole extraction materials, we have uncovered concrete evidence of balanced long-range electron-hole diffusion lengths of at least 100 nanometers in solution-processed CH3NH3PbI3. The high photoconversion efficiencies of these systems stem from the comparable optical absorption length and charge-carrier diffusion lengths, transcending the traditional constraints of solution-processed semiconductors.

Interface engineering of highly efficient perovskite solar cells

Abstract: Advancing perovskite solar cell technologies toward their theoretical power conversion efficiency (PCE) requires delicate control over the carrier dynamics throughout the entire device. By controlling the formation of the perovskite layer and careful choices of other materials, we suppressed carrier recombination in the absorber, facilitated carrier injection into the carrier transport layers, and maintained good carrier extraction at the electrodes. When measured via reverse bias scan, cell PCE is typically boosted to 16.6% on average, with the highest efficiency of ~19.3% in a planar geometry without antireflective coating. The fabrication of our perovskite solar cells was conducted in air and from solution at low temperatures, which should simplify manufacturing of large-area perovskite devices that are inexpensive and perform at high levels.

Porphyrin-Sensitized Solar Cells with Cobalt (II/III)–Based Redox Electrolyte Exceed 12 Percent Efficiency

Abstract: The iodide/triiodide redox shuttle has limited the efficiencies accessible in dye-sensitized solar cells. Here, we report mesoscopic solar cells that incorporate a Co(II/III)tris(bipyridyl)–based redox electrolyte in conjunction with a custom synthesized donor-π-bridge-acceptor zinc porphyrin dye as sensitizer (designated YD2-o-C8). The specific molecular design of YD2-o-C8 greatly retards the rate of interfacial back electron transfer from the conduction band of the nanocrystalline titanium dioxide film to the oxidized cobalt mediator, which enables attainment of strikingly high photovoltages approaching 1 volt. Because the YD2-o-C8 porphyrin harvests sunlight across the visible spectrum, large photocurrents are generated. Cosensitization of YD2-o-C8 with another organic dye further enhances the performance of the device, leading to a measured power conversion efficiency of 12.3% under simulated air mass 1.5 global sunlight.