Bandgap tunable perovskites for Organic poLLutAnts removal in water

BOLLA aims to modulate the bandgap of halide perovskites to obtain versatile solar cells with stable power outputs. The ultimate goal will be coupling such devices with an electrochemical system to engineer an inexpensive, solar driven photo-oxidation water purification system. It will represent a breakthrough in the field of (i) solid-state physics of halide perovskites, shining light on instability mechanisms driven by defects in Sn-containing materials, (ii) photovoltaic, developing stable commercial tunable solar cells, and (iii) water treatment, serving as point-of-use system to obtain safe drinking water free of harmful organic pollutants. The project will start from the design and synthesis of a suitable solution-processed Sn-Pb hybrid perovskite material, whose chemical composition will be tweaked to obtain both narrow and wide bandgap structures with optimal charge transport properties and stability. The fundamental chemistry of defects and the related optoelectronic mechanisms will be investigated as primary source of instability. The engineered material will be integrated in fully-printable, metal-free architectures using only methods compatible with large scale production. Finally, individual wide and narrow bandgap solar cells and series-connected configurations will be combined with an electrochemical system to provide the necessary power to maximize the efficiency in degrading organic pollutants in wastewater. Beyond the main target, the project will proceed through the realization of intermediate and high impact targets, which include advanced photophysical characterization of Sn-Pb hybrid perovskites and fabrication of fully-printable carbon based Sn-Pb devices. This multidisciplinary project will be carried out at the Italian Institute of Technology (Milan) under the supervision of Dr. Petrozza and complemented with Secondments in the Technical Research Centre of Finland VTT (Espoo) and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin HZB (Berlin).