POWER · Perovskite Ordering for Waste Energy Recovery

Imagine an electronic device that could harvest energy from the first ray of the sun, every single beat of your heart, and even exhaust from your automobile. The boost in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies have forced a fast deployment of the Internet of Things (IoT) devices. These devices are expected to operate 24x7 at the pane of a blink. Powering such devices accounts for 6% of the global fossil fuel energy production. The best way to meet this power demand is to develop self-sustainable, monolithic, long-lasting, electronic devices that are designed to receive mechanical, thermal, and photovoltaic input from the surroundings individually or simultaneously to provide an electrical output whenever needed. This will be achieved by engineering high performing unrivalled materials’ architectures, with high piezoresponse for mechanical energy conversion and efficient transport properties for thermal and photovoltaic performance. POWER aims at chemically modifying lead-free hybrid halide organic-inorganic perovskites (HOIPs) and improving their stability by encapsulating them in a polymer matrix. Following this, the structural, optical, and electrical response of these materials and their integrated devices will be measured and correlated with the crystal structure. Lessons from these fundamental multi-dimensional studies will not only offer a solution to our dream self-sustainable device but will also motivate scientists and researchers working in the regime of hardware support for AI, chemistry, materials science, and device physics. The project will integrate the applicant’s expertise on HOIP synthesis and device characterization with the extensive experience of the host-lab in thin-film growth and mechatronics. Importantly, the originality and boldness of the project will warranty that its success will catapult the applicant’s international recognition as an independent scientist, greatly increasing her career prospects to be a future group leader.