Dominic V McGrath

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  Semiconducting molecules have been employed to passivate traps extant in the perovskite film for enhancement of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) efficiency and stability. A molecular design strategy to passivate the defects both on the surface and interior of the CH3 NH3 PbI3 perovskite layer, using two phthalocyanine (Pc) molecules (NP-SC6 -ZnPc and NP-SC6 -TiOPc) is demonstrated. The presence of lone electron pairs on S, N, and O atoms of the Pc molecular structures provides the opportunity for Lewis acid-base interactions with under-coordinated Pb2+ sites, leading to efficient defect passivation of the perovskite layer. The tendency of both NP-SC6 -ZnPc and NP-SC6 -TiOPc to relax on the PbI2 terminated surface of the perovskite layer is also studied using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The morphology of the perovskite layer is improved due to employing the Pc passivation strategy, resulting in high-quality thin films with a dense and compact structure and lower surface roughness. Using NP-SC6 -ZnPc and NP-SC6 -TiOPc as passivating agents, it is observed considerably enhanced power conversion efficiencies (PCEs), from 17.67% for the PSCs based on the pristine perovskite film to 19.39% for NP-SC6 -TiOPc passivated devices. Moreover, PSCs fabricated based on the Pc passivation method present a remarkable stability under conditions of high moisture and temperature levels.

Proceedings Publications

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  Electroactuated polymer (EAP) hydrogels based on JEFFAMINE® T-403 and ethylene glycol glycidyl ether (EGDGE) are used in an infusion pump based on the proprietary Pulse Actuated Cell System (PACS) architecture in development at Medipacs LLC. We report here significant progress in optimizing the formulation of the EAP hydrogels to dramatically increase hydrolytic stability and reproducibility of actuation response. By adjusting the mole fraction of reactive components of the formulation and substituting higher molecular weight monomers, we eliminated a large degree of the hydrolytic instability of the hydrogels, decreased the brittleness of the gel, and increased the equilibrium swelling ratio. The combination of these two modifications to the formulation resulted in hydrogels that exhibited reproducible swelling and deswelling in response to pH for a total period of 10-15 hours.

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