Lea Nienhaus
Rice University, TX·Chemistry·Early-career
Much of the sunlight that reaches a solar cell is wasted. Its low-energy infrared photons, or particles of light, carry too little energy for the cell's semiconductor to absorb.
- Fields
Chemistry
Materials Science
Physics
- Topics
photon upconversion
triplet-triplet annihilation
metal halide perovskites
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2028
What they work on
- Develop new pairs of metal halide perovskites and triplet-accepting organic molecules to test why annihilator molecules such as diphenylanthracene work well in solution but poorly in solid-state upconversion.
- Control the arrangement of polyacene molecules on perovskite surfaces to test how orbital coupling (the overlap of electron clouds between neighboring molecules) and aggregation affect triplet transfer and triplet-triplet annihilation.
- Map local optical and electronic properties of perovskite/organic interfaces at the micro- and nanoscale using optical scanning probe microscopy and time-resolved optical spectroscopy, linking molecular structure to bulk upconversion yield.
More about the research
One fix is upconversion, a process that combines two low-energy photons into one higher-energy visible photon that a solar cell can use. This project studies a version of upconversion that takes place entirely in solids. It pairs metal halide perovskites, light-absorbing crystals being developed for solar cells, with thin films of organic molecules.
Why it matters
Turning wasted infrared sunlight into usable visible light could raise the efficiency of solar cells. Understanding why upconverting molecules lose performance in solid films could guide the design of practical solid-state upconversion layers. Such layers could be paired with perovskite and other photovoltaic devices to convert sunlight into electricity or chemical energy more effectively.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Michael McGehee
University of Colorado Boulder, CO·Materials Science
Synthesize all-inorganic triple-halide perovskites with band gaps of 1.9–2.1 eV and map which compositions mix into a single stable phase, using X-ray diffraction and composition analysis.
Heayoung Yoon
University of Utah, UT·Materials Science·Early-career
Visualize local defects such as mobile ions and charge carrier dynamics in metal halide perovskites during degradation and recovery, using electron-beam and near-field optical probes inside a scanning electron microscope.
Ajay Ram Srimath Kandada
Wake Forest University, NC·Physics·Early-career
Measure how excitons couple to lattice vibrations in 2D metal halide perovskites by recording noise in the amplitude and phase of the optical response after launching coherent phonons, to isolate how random lattice fluctuations drive anharmonicity and polaron formation.
The school
Rice University: 24 labs on PI Pages, $278M a year on research, 267 research doctorates a year.
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