Resumen:

Silicon solar cells have dominated the science and market for solar cells. Their efficiency was boosted after the passivation of their surface and minimised charge losses at the interface, allowing better contacts to extract the photoelectrical current.

In molecular solar cells, either organic or hybrid perovskite-based photoactive layers, selective contacts are paramount to obtain high efficiency. In the latter case, using self-assembled molecules is a must to push the solar cell efficiency up to 24% (under standard solar irradiation conditions). Our group pioneered the design and synthesis of self-assembled molecules ( SAMs) in perovskite solar cells and has focused on studying the relationship between the SAMs’ molecular structure and device function. I will discuss the latest advances in SAMs for perovskite solar cells and how far we can achieve the maximum theoretical limit in perovskite solar cells and tandem devices. 

Bibliografía:

Emilio Palomares (València, 1974). He studied Biology at the UVEG (1997). After graduating, he joined Prof. Hermenegildo García’s group at the UPV/ITQ-CSIC where he got his PhD (2001). In 2001 he was awarded a Marie Slowdowska-Curie Fellowship ICL (London, UK). There he began his work with molecular devices for energy conversion, under the direction of Prof. James R. Durrant. In 2004 Emilio got a Ramón y Cajal Fellowship at the ICMol-UVEG. In April 2006, he took a position at ICIQ-CERCA. In 2009 he was awarded an ERC starting grant to work on quantum dots for energy conversion devices and an ERC PoC in 2015. Moreover, in 2009 he was also awarded with an ICREA research Professorship.

In 2006, Prof. Palomares received the Young Chemist Award by the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry and 2010 the INNOVA 2010 Award by the SusChem Spanish Association. In 2019 he was awarded the Energy & Environmental Solutions International Chair (E2S) by the Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour (UPPA). Later in 2020, September, he was elected ICIQ Director and was awarded in 2023 with an ERC Advanced Grant. Prof. Palomares has co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers on molecules and materials for energy-related devices. He is a member of the selection committee of some of the most prestigious research grants (ERC, AEI, US-Israel binational science foundation…).

His research group has expertise in synthesising materials and molecules with optical and electrical properties and the characterization of interfacial charge transfer reactions in complete devices. Nowadays, the group is particularly interested in studying the interfacial charge transfer reactions versus device efficiency in solar cells to power electrochemical fuel cells for H₂ production from water or ammonia electrolysis and CO₂ reduction.

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.es/citations?user=GczuZ1oAAAAJ&hl=es

Orcid: https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0000-0002-5092-9227