Associate ProfessorAsaph Widmer-Cooper

Research Opportunities

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Title: Designing new nano-structured materials for solar energy and health

Summary of opportunity:

While methods for making nanostructured materials are often slow or energy intensive, self-assembly of nanoscale objects promises to be scalable and low-energy and could thus propel a new wave of development in what is already a $20 billion nanotechnology industry. Today we can make nanoparticles with a vast range of unique properties, shapes and patterns, however organising them into extended structures that could revolutionize technology remains a challenge. This project will use computer simulations to improve our ability to control the spatial arrangement of rod-shaped particles into structures with potential applications in filtration, sensing and solar energy capture.

Opportunity synopsis:

You will apply new computational methods developed within our group to characterise the interactions between colloidal nanorods and/or their self-assembly in the presence of interfaces and patchy interactions. Important questions that this project will address include: how the presence of molecules on the surface of nanoparticles can be used to tune their interaction, how rod-shaped particles interact with interfaces, and how these interactions can be manipulated to assemble complex ordered structures. You will address these questions using an array of computational tools and statistical mechanics, including molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulation, in collaboration with leading experimental groups in Australia and around the globe. The expected outcome is a robust strategy for making a variety of ordered structures with potential applications in solar energy, sensing and security.

The ideal candidate will have an honours degree in Chemistry or Physics (or a related field), and some knowledge of statistical mechanics and molecular simulation techniques. Most importantly, we are looking for curious, creative, and enthusiastic people with a high level of motivation and persistence. 

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Title: Using computer simulations to design better printable solar cells

Summary of opportunity:

The ability to print efficient, stable and cheap solar cells near ambient conditions would revolutionise our transition to renewable energy.  Metal halide perovskites have emerged as a promising candidate for realising this dream, as a printable solar cell material with the fastest growing efficiency to date.  In this project, you will use computer simulations to study how crystalline films of metal halide perovskites form from solution and how they are affected by moisture. The insights gained from this work will help our experimental partners to obtain better control of device nanostructure and performance. 

Opportunity synopsis:

Metal halide perovskites are inorganic or organometallic materials that can be formed into thin crystalline films by depositing a solution of precursor ions onto a substrate and then removing the solvent.  This process has been used to make very efficient perovskite solar cells (PSCs) at small scale, however there are barriers to converting this success into a mature technology. For example, PSCs are not as stable under humid environmental conditions as conventional silicon-based solar cells, and it is not currently possible to print efficient PSCs at scale.  One of the central problems is that we lack a detailed understanding of how perovskite crystals form at the molecular level and of how to influence this process.  To help solve this problem, you will use computational modelling to study the formation and dissolution of metal halide perovskites at the molecular level. This will involve the use of molecular dynamics simulations and statistical mechanics techniques to characterise the mechanism and thermodynamics of these processes, including the effect of changing experimental conditions.  This will be done in close collaboration with experimental partners and with other members of our diverse research group at the University of Sydney.  The expected outcome is a set of strategies (ink formulation and processing conditions) that can be used to print stable and efficient PSCs at scale.