Letian Dou Group

Aidan’s paper entitled “Controlling Crystallization of Quasi-2D Perovskite Solar Cells: Incorporating Bulky Conjugated Ligands” has been published in Advanced Energy Materials. Congratulations!

A bulky bi-thiophene 2T ligand is used to create vertically-aligned quasi-2D perovskite films. By starting with a poorly coordinating solvent (GBL) and adding a small amount of DMSO and methanol, it is found that vertical orientation and z-uniformity is greatly improved. These are examined using grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering and advanced optical characterizations. Solar cells with an max efficiency of 13.3% are demonstrated. The quasi-2D absorbing layers show excellent stability in moisture, remaining unchanged after hundreds of hours. Read the story here.

Undergrad visiting students Xinan Wu and Peiran Niu, both from Peking University Physics Department, joined the group. Xinan will work on OSiP LEDs and Peiran will work on large area solar cells. Welcome to the group and look forward to working together!

The groups receives Ralph W. and Grace M. Showalter Research Trust award to support our polymer single crystal and sustainable polymer work. Thank you for the generous support! Congratulations to the group!

The group warmly welcomes two new postdoc fellows Dr. Wenhao Shao and Dr. Xuyi Luo joining us. Wenhao received his PhD in Chemistry from University of Michigan with Prof. Jinsang Kim. Wenhao will work on synthesis and applications of novel OSiPs. Xuyi received his PhD in Chemistry from Purdue University with Prof. Jianguo Mei. He actually has been working with us for a year before receiving his PhD and he will continue working with us on polymer single crystals and sustainable polymers for another year. Welcome both to the group. Look forward to working together!

Blake Finkenauer successfully defended his thesis today! — Third PhD in our group. Big congratulations! Blake is heading to First Solar in California as a process engineer to develop perovskite solar modules toward commercialization. Best of luck in your future endeavors! Look forward to seeing the products!

Dr. Hanjun Yang receives the prestigious Lillian Gilbreth Postdoctoral Fellowship sponsored by Purdue College of Engineering. Hanjun will be co-advised by Prof. Dou and Prof. Libai Huang (chemistry) to study exciton and spin functionalities in halide perovskite epitaxial heterostructures. Big congratulations!

Aihui and Ke’s paper on “Tailoring Anchoring Groups in Low-Dimensional OSiPs” has been published in Small Structures. Check it here.

Akriti and Lin’s review paper on “Anion diffusion in two-dimensional halide perovskites” has been published in APL Materials. This paper has been selected as Editor’s pick and journal cover! Check it here.

Special feature issue of halide perovskite for photonics and optoelectronics in Optical Material Express has been published, in which Dr. Dou is a guest editor. Check the special issue here.

Aidan Coffey successfully defended his thesis today! — Second PhD in our group. Big congratulations! Aidan is heading to Advanced Light Sources at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California as a joint ALS postdoc fellow (Dr. Chenhui Zhu) with University of Houston (Prof. Lakis Mountziaris). Best of luck in your future endeavors! We will continue collaborating with you!

Prof. Dou has been awarded tenure and will be Charles Davidson Associate Professor starting this summer. Big thank to all students, group members, colleagues, friends, and family’s help and support!

Akriti receives the prestigious Outstanding Grad Student Research award by the College of Engineering. Only 1 student is selected each year from each school. Congratulations!