Professor Valentine Vullev received an NSF EAGER exploratory grant on basic research on synthetic electrets and their impact on solar-energy-conversion applications. (Electrets are the electrostatic equivalent of magnets: i.e., they contain electric dipoles with ordered orientation.) The electric fields, generated by these designed dielectrics, will allow for rational control of the charge movement in photovoltaic devices. Such implementation of electrets will prove essential for solar cells with improved efficiencies.

Through this EAGER exploratory grant Professor Vullev and his students will adopt structural motifs from biological macromolecules for a de novo design of molecular electrets. These synthetic bioinspired electrets will have superior electronic properties, in comparison with their biological counterparts, and as such, they will prove immensely beneficial for solar-energy-conversion applications.

Experimental and computational investigation of a series of de novo electrets will reveal their electronic properties. The Vullev group will use ultrafast time-resolved spectroscopic studies to characterize the directionality and the efficiency of various bioinepired electrets. They plan tol select the molecular electrets with the most promising performance and implement them into bulk heterojunction devices. The ultimate goal is to develop synthetic electrets for solar-cell applications.

Professor Vullev plans to also include a high-school student and a science teacher in summer research as part of his outreach efforts.