报告摘要：

With limited supply of fossil fuels and their adverse effect on the environment, finding materials to harvest and store clean energy is one of the greatest challenges in the 21st century. Solar energy is an ideal renewable source, but its harvesting and storage requires efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly materials for solar cells and batteries. This talk will focus on one class of such materials1-6 based on perovskites. Hybrid perovskites composed of organic cations and inorganic anions have emerged in the past few years as the next generation solar cells with power conversion efficiency reaching above 20%. However, the instability of these materials when exposed to moisture, is one of the most challenging problems. Using density functional theory and molecular dynamics simulation, we have analyzed the source of this instability and show how this can be overcome by replacing halogens with cluster ions, without compromising their electronic or optical properties. Similarly, antiperovskites which have been recently used as solid electrolytes in Li-ion batteries can be modified to increase their superionic conductivity. A new class of solids with clusters as building blocks can usher a new era in materials science where rational design can lead to materials with unprecedented properties.

报告人简介：

Dr. Puru Jena received his Ph. D. in Physics from the University of California at Riverside in 1970. After postdoctoral appointments he joined the Physics faculty at Michigan Technological University in 1978 as Associate Professor, and moved to Virginia Commonwealth University in 1980 where he was promoted to full Professor of Physics in 1982 and named Distinguished Professor of Physics in 2005. Prof. Jena’s research covers a wide range of topics in nano-structured materials, condensed matter Physics, and materials Science. He is the author of more than 550 papers including 12 edited books. He has given over 430 invited talks including over 200 talks at international conferences in 30 countries around the world, and organized over 50 international conferences. He has served as a member of numerous scientific panels at the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, Army Research Office, and the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Jena’s honors include: Outstanding Scientist of Virginia, 2015; Presidential Medallion, Virginia Commonwealth University (2011); Jefferson Science Fellow at the US Department of State (2007); Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher Education of Virginia (2001); Fellow of the American Physical Society since 2000.