| Project Detail |
The accelerated urgency of transitioning away from fossil fuels is driven by climate change, but also by the European energy crisis in
the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It reinforces the demand for competitive solar energy conversion technologies. Organic
photovoltaics (OPV), based on non-toxic abundant raw materials offer an inexpensive technology with vast opportunities for largescale
roll-to-roll production that is scalable to the multi-terawatt level. After a decade of R&D, several European companies are
entering the market with OPV products. However, new materials, so-called non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs), have recently been
discovered and have yielded higher power conversion efficiencies. This development occurred mainly in China, so that Europe is at
risk of losing its leading industrial position to the Asia. To reverse this alarming trend, Europe needs to increase its strategic
investments into OPV research. Two key directions of particular importance are: tailored novel NFA materials and NFA-based solar
cells with long operational lifetime.
Our scientific goal within EIFFEL – EffIcient Fullerene-Free organic solar cELs – is to recruit, train and supervise 10 talented Early Stage
Researchers (ESRs) to design and synthesise novel NFAs suitable for both solution and vacuum processing, for the next generation of
efficient and stable OPV. In EIFFEL, the unprecedented combination of targeted simulations, organic synthesis, device
characterisation and engineering based on industrial needs paves the way to products that overcome OPV’s present-day limitations.
EIFFEL’s training programme is uniquely designed to provide the ESRs with multidisciplinary training interlinking chemistry, materials
science, physics, computer science, and transferable skills. EIFFEL’s ambition is to form a new generation of creative, entrepreneurial
and innovative young researchers with the organisational abilities needed to succeed in interdisciplinary high-tech sectors. |
