Research Associate in Encapsulation of Perovskite Solar Cells

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We seek a Physicist / Physical Chemist / Materials Scientist with expertise in the fabrication, and encapsulation of perovskite solar cells. This project is funded by the organisation ARIA and is part of the recently announced Enduring Flight' programme. The project objectives are to spray-coat perovskite solar cells onto the surface of carbon fibre substrates and then encapsulate them, creating solar cell devices that have a high specific power (power to weight ratio) and excellent operational stability.

These devices have aerospace applications, and will be explored for their capacity to provide solar power to unmanned aerial vehicles. In this project, the successful applicant will develop various encapsulation layers onto perovskite solar cells on carbon fibre, and then characterise the specific power and operational lifetime of the device. A key part of the work will be to explore device stability under a range of conditions, including at low temperature and following rapid temperature cycling.

A range of techniques will be used to deposit encapsulation layers, including e-beam evaporation, powder-coating and spray-coating. As part of the project, various demonstrator devices will be created that will be explored under real world operational conditions.

Based in Professor David Lidzey's laboratory, your role will be to work in collaboration with other researchers on the project to develop an understanding of how the different encapsulation approaches affect solar cell efficiency, specific power and stability. You will fabricate thin encapsulation films onto carbon-fibre based perovskite solar cell devices and will then determine device efficiency and operational stability. You will work closely with colleagues at the AMRC in Sheffield who will fabricate the carbon fibre and you will report your work via writing reports and presenting your data.

• Design, develop and refine experiments in order to obtain reliable data.
• Carry out experimental research, including the use of chemicals and solvents in our clean-rooms.
• Fabricate encapsulation films onto perovskite solar cells and characterise their efficiency, specific power and stability.
• Tune the properties of the encapsulation films to optimise specific power and stability.
• Analyse and record data to aid the design of future research and produce useful findings for project partners.
• Prepare papers for journals/presentations either in-house or at national/international conferences or seminars to disseminate research findings.
• Write progress reports and present work at project meetings.
• Read academic papers, journals and textbooks and attend conferences to keep abreast of developments.
• Plan for specific aspects of research programmes.
• If given a particular hypothesis to examine, plan for own contribution up to 3 months ahead, incorporating issues such as the availability of resources, deadlines, project milestones and overall research aims. Design individual experiments weekly.
• Interact effectively with other members of the project team, sharing data and expertise and working together to reach project objectives.
• Supervise research team/activities if required.
• Continuously monitor and check results. The unpredictability of research means that daily planning is required to accommodate new developments.
• Plan several months in advance to meet deadlines for journal publications and to prepare presentations and papers for conferences.
• As a member of staff you will be encouraged to make ethical decisions in your role, embedding the University sustainability strategy into your working activities wherever possible.
• Carry out other duties, commensurate with the grade and remit of the post

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