Sustainability Leadership Fellow Cohort: 2017-2018
Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Chemistry
Research Summary: I work to develop new materials for organic photovoltaics. Unlike the heavy, rigid, dark-colored inorganic panels you probably think of when you hear ‘photovoltaics,’ organic photovoltaics are made from small, carbon-based molecules. Therefore, they are lightweight, flexible, and have tunable color and transparency. In other words, through organic photovoltaic technology, everything from fabric to windows can produce energy! In fact, solar windows and roll-up sheets of solar plastic are already commercially available. However, improved materials could catapult this technology from an emerging field to a staple of energy production, so I work to improve material lifetime and charge transport properties.