#ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

tearsinthemist · 2 years

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A team of researchers, including researchers from the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering at UNSW Sydney and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science, have made a breakthrough in infrared technology that could lead to the development of solar panels that work at night.

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focusonthegoodnews · 3 years

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Australian researchers show next gen solar cells can beat the heat

Good News Notes: “Australian researchers have demonstrated that new solar panel designs and manufacturing techniques have the potential to solve some of the key challenges of operating in high temperatures, showing that they not only produce more useful electricity but have longer operational lives thanks to their ability to beat the heat. In new research published in the journal Progress in…

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materialsscienceandengineering · 2 years

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World record broken for thinnest X-ray detector ever created

Scientists in Australia have used tin mono-sulfide (SnS) nanosheets to create the thinnest X-ray detector ever made, potentially enabling real-time imaging of cellular biology.

X-ray detectors are tools that allow energy transported by radiation to be recognized visually or electronically, like medical imaging or Geiger counters.

SnS has already shown great promise as a material for use in photovoltaics, field effect transistors and catalysis.

Now, members of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science, based at Monash University and RMIT University, have shown that SnS nanosheets are also excellent candidates for use as soft X-ray detectors.

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stickyeyeslikes · 4 years

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Exciton Science from Jumbla on Vimeo.

Found out more here: jumbla.com/work/branded-web-content/exciton-science

This piece of branded web content was created for the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science. The objective of the brief was to create engaging content that explains what the research centre does and what it hopes to achieve.

From microscopes and microchips to cars and cash, the video manages to combine advanced science with everyday items, explaining how even the most complex technology can have practical, real-world applications.

Service Type: Explainer Video Client: The ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science Animation Type: 2D, Animation

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mattnicholls69 · 4 years

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New understanding of electrolyte additives will improve dye-sensitised solar cells | ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science

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sciencebulletin · 4 years

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Applying quantum-impurity theory to quantum fluids of light

A Monash-led study develops a new approach to directly observe correlated, many-body states in an exciton-polariton system that go beyond classical theories. The study expands the use of quantum impurity theory, currently of significant interest to the cold-atom physics community, and will trigger future experiments demonstrating many-body quantum correlations of microcavity polaritons. Exploring quantum fluids "Exciton-polaritons provide a playground in which one can explore room temperature quantum fluids, and the novel properties of many-body non-equilibrium systems," says study author A/Prof Meera Parish. However, despite their intrinsic quantum nature as superpositions of matter and light, most recent results can be described through the physics of non-linear, classical waves. The new study shows how one can probe beyond mean-field quantum correlations in a many-body polariton system through quantum impurity physics, where a mobile impurity is dressed by excitations of a quantum-mechanical medium, thus forming a new polaronic quasiparticle that defies a mean-field description. "Observing beyond mean-field quantum correlated behavior with polaritons is an important milestone toward using polaritons for quantum technologies," explains lead author Dr. Jesper Levinsen, who is an ARC Future Fellow and collaborator of A/Prof Parish in Monash University's School of Physics and Astronomy. At the few-particle level, there has recently been progress in achieving weak anti-bunching and polariton blockade in a fiber cavity, where confinement of photons enhances non-linearities. Similarly, complex multi-dimensional spectroscopy has been used to study quantum correlations. However, experiments demonstrating beyond mean-field quantum correlated behaviour at the many-body level still remain elusive. The study provides an alternative route to explore such correlations, making use of pump-probe spectroscopy methods, which have already been demonstrated by experiments. "Our findings match the results of these experiments, but show that experiments have so far missed the regime where multi-point quantum correlations can be seen," says Dr. Levinsen. The study "Spectroscopic signatures of quantum many-body correlations in polaritons microcavities" was published in Physical Review Letters in December 2019. As well as support from the Australian Research Council (Centres of Excellence and Future Fellowship), financial support was provided by the Ministerio de Economia Competitividad (MINECO), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Simons Foundation, and work was carried out at the Aspen Center for Physics . Parish and Levinsen are theoretical physicists investigating and mathematically describing the behavior of large groups of interacting quantum particles, such as atoms or electrons, which can exhibit exotic behavior, such as superfluidity where they flow without encountering resistance. A/Prof Parish is the leading current researcher studying how such complex collective behavior emerges from the properties of small groups of quantum particles (a field known as few-body physics). This work expands our fundamental knowledge of quantum physics in systems ranging from cold atomic gases to solid-state semiconductors, and has the potential to underpin a new generation of near-zero resistance, ultra-low energy electronic devices, sought by FLEET. Provided by: FLEET More information: Jesper Levinsen et al. Spectroscopic Signatures of Quantum Many-Body Correlations in Polariton Microcavities. Physical Review Letters (2019). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.266401 Image: Spectroscopic signature of two-point, many-body correlated state. Left: In absence of pumping. Right: With pumping. Credit: FLEET Read the full article

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materialsscienceandengineering · 3 years

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Scientists in Australia have developed a process for calculating the perfect size and density of quantum dots needed to achieve record efficiency in solar panels.

Quantum dots, human-made nanocrystals 100,000 times thinner than a sheet of paper, can be used as light sensitisers, absorbing infrared and visible light and transferring it to other molecules.

This could enable new types of solar panels to capture more of the light spectrum and generate more electrical current, through a process of 'light fusion' known as photochemical upconversion.

The researchers, from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science, used lead sulfide quantum dots in their example. The algorithm is free to access and their results have been published in the journal Nanoscale.

Significantly, existing upconversion results achieved by test devices used organic sensitisers that do not work with silicon solar cells -- currently the most commonly available type of photovoltaics technology -- due to their inability to absorb much of the infrared part of the light spectrum.

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materialsscienceandengineering · 3 years

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In a world hungry for cheaper, more efficient renewable energy, Australian researchers have served up a treat.

Work led by the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science has shown that the two-dimensional (2D) thin films used in some perovskite solar cells closely resemble a sandwich. Perovskite is an exciting material at the forefront of solar energy research and design.

Previously, scientists thought these 2D perovskite films had a 'gradient' structure, in which certain components were found deep in the material, with other complementary elements only located nearer to the surface, like topping on a cracker.

However, in a paper published in Journal of Materials Chemistry C, members of Exciton Science based at the University of Melbourne, together with collaborators at Australia's national science agency CSIRO and Shandong University, have provided evidence for a sandwich-like structure, in which two layers of the same type (the bread) surround one central, contrasting layer (the filling).

This layout encourages excitons -- quasiparticles important for converting sunlight to electricity -- to move from the central layer to both surfaces of the film, while free carriers transport charge for collection by electrodes, helping to result in more efficient solar energy generation when incorporated into devices.

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materialsscienceandengineering · 4 years

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Scientists use a Teflon pipe to make a cheap, simple reactor for silica particle synthesis

Functional silica beads for biomedical imaging, drug delivery and other important applications could be made using an easy new flow synthesis method.

Researchers in Australia and China have proposed an innovative and cost-effective new method for creating silica beads, which have a number of key uses, ranging from nanomedicine and bioimaging to the production of paper and polished concrete.

The synthesis of silica particles for experimental and industrial uses began in the 1960s, and usually takes place in large batches, where controlled doping to induce functionality is difficult.

Control of the synthesis parameters can be achieved through costly and time-consuming small-scale microfluidic reactors that require photolithography, etching, bonding and injection moulding, which are prone to clogging.

Now, a surprisingly simple new approach has been demonstrated, and could be adopted for various applications at a low cost and with a high degree of reliability.

Researchers at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science, based at The University of Melbourne, and working with colleagues at South China Normal University, constructed a flow synthesis device using a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or 'Teflon' pipe wound around a rod and connected to two syringes.

The key to the success of this approach is a spiral channel which promotes vortex flow characteristics, and this type of fluid flow encourages extremely efficient mixing of the precursor fluids.

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cooldavidkentposts · 3 years

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$4.5m to drive Monash Uni sustainable energy initiatives

More than $4.5 million in funding has been granted for two Monash University-led projects that will enable the discovery of new materials to drive the global transition to a sustainable energy future, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) announced.

ARENA will contribute funding for Monash to establish a $7 million facility at the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication (MCN) to accelerate the development of new materials through both vacuum and printing processes.

The facility, made available through the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics (ACAP), will bolster Australia’s competitiveness in the development of next-generation solar cells, solar fuels, as well as batteries and various other types of new energy technologies.

A team led by Udo Bach, Professor of Chemical Engineering at Monash University, received $3.9 million in funding to establish a dedicated ‘High Throughput Solution-Processable Photovoltaic Materials Discovery Facility’.

This materials discovery tool will bring together advanced robotics, automation and artificial intelligence concepts to rapidly synthesise, deposit and test the properties of new generations of printable and ‘paint on’ energy materials.

The new facility will be able to run autonomously for 24 hours, continuously making and characterising thin film coatings. This will allow future users to speed up their experimental throughput by at least 100 times compared to conventional research practices. Ongoing research into perovskites — an emerging material for next generation solar cells — will be a major focus.

Professor Bach said Monash is a world leader in energy science and engineering.

“This facility will dramatically increase the rate of discovery in the energy materials space as Australia, and indeed other countries globally, prioritises a reduction in carbon emissions and a transition to sustainable energy sources,” he said.

ARENA has contributed a further $661,000 to a team led by Jacek Jasieniak, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, to progress new materials discovery through an advanced sputtering tool.

Sputtering is a phenomenon whereby nanoscopic particles of solid materials are ejected from a surface, after the material itself is hit with energised particles of plasma or gas. It is a technique used in the manufacturing of high-precision optical coatings, semiconductor devices and nanotechnology products.

This customised system will enable combinatorial discovery of materials, where different target materials will be simultaneously mixed to provide practically unlimited material combinations.

Through its ability to rapidly deposit and characterise inorganic materials over a wide material parameter space in a single deposition step, this system can support accelerated discovery and development of materials suitable across many aspects related to photovoltaics, including new earth-abundant inorganic absorbers, interfacing transport layers, electrodes, anti-reflective coatings and protecting layers.

“The development of new materials and interfaces is critical towards future progress in silicon and other emerging photovoltaics. However, such developments are inherently unproductive and expensive,” Professor Jasieniak said.

“The proposed facility will develop a new capability in a combinatorial sputtering system within Australia that will accelerate the development and optimisation of sputtered inorganic materials in a big way compared to more conventional vacuum techniques.”

In addition to ARENA, a number of organisations have contributed funding towards these projects, including Monash University, the Australian National Fabrication Facility, CSIRO and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science.

Professor Elizabeth Croft, Dean of Monash University’s Faculty of Engineering, said these important investments in research have the potential to fundamentally transform how energy systems function, and accelerate Australia’s leadership towards a clean, safe and sustainable energy future.

“With our top nationally ranked and world-leading research in chemical engineering and materials science and engineering, and our leadership in data science, robotics and AI, Monash is uniquely placed to drive the novel scientific advances in energy materials, and the automated optimisation processes and techniques that rapidly transform these discoveries into technological innovations.”

MCN Director Professor Nico Voelcker said the organisation is proud to house the transformative materials discovery tools.

“The exciting research that they underpin fits squarely within the Victorian node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility’s strategy to foster and facilitate translational innovations in nanofabrication for the energy and medtech sectors,” Voelcker said.

For more information, click here.

source http://sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/energy/news/-4-5m-to-drive-monash-uni-sustainable-energy-initiatives-1541339947

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cooldavidkentposts · 4 years

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Electricity-generating windows follow solar cell breakthrough

Australian researchers have revealed that 2 m2 of solar window will generate the same amount of power as a standard rooftop solar panel.

Semitransparent solar cells incorporated into window glass have been tipped by Australian scientists as a game changer that could transform architecture, urban planning and electricity generation, as outlined in a paper published in Nano Energy.

Led by Professor Jacek Jasieniak from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science (Exciton Science) and Monash University, the researchers have produced next-generation perovskite solar cells that generate electricity while allowing light to pass through. The team is now investigating how the technology could be built into commercial products with Australian glass manufacturer Viridian Glass.

The idea of semitransparent solar cells is not new, but previous designs have failed because they were very expensive, unstable or inefficient. Professor Jasieniak and colleagues from Monash’s Materials Science and Engineering Department and Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, used a different approach.

Using an organic semiconductor that can be made into a polymer, the team replaced a commonly used solar cell component known as Spiro-OMeTAD, which shows very low stability because it develops an unhelpful watery coating. The substitute produced astonishing results.

“Rooftop solar has a conversion efficiency of between 15 and 20%,” Professor Jacek said. “The semitransparent cells have a conversion efficiency of 17%, while still transmitting more than 10% of the incoming light, so they are right in the zone. It’s long been a dream to have windows that generate electricity, and now that looks possible.”

Co-author and CSIRO research scientist Dr Anthony Chesman said the team is now working on scaling up the manufacturing process.

“We’ll be looking to develop a large-scale glass manufacturing process that can be easily transferred to industry so manufacturers can readily uptake the technology,” he said.

Professor Jasieniak explained that there is a trade-off: “The solar cells can be made more, or less, transparent. The more transparent they are, the less electricity they generate, so that becomes something for architects to consider,” he said.

He added that solar windows tinted to the same degree as current glazed commercial windows would generate about 140 watts of electricity per square metre.

The first application is likely to be in multistorey buildings. Large windows deployed in high-rise buildings are expensive to make. The additional cost of incorporating the semitransparent solar cells into them will be marginal.

“But even with the extra spend, the building then gets its electricity free!” Professor Jasieniak said.

“These solar cells mean a big change to the way we think about buildings and the way they function. Up until now, every building has been designed on the assumption that windows are fundamentally passive. Now they will actively produce electricity.

“Planners and designers might have to even reconsider how they position buildings on sites, to optimise how the walls catch the sun.”

Lead author Dr Jae Choul Yu, also from Exciton Science and Monash, added that more efficiency gains would flow from further research.

“Our next project is a tandem device,” he said. “We will use perovskite solar cells as the bottom layer and organic solar cells as the top one.”

As to when the first commercial semitransparent solar cells will be on the market, Professor Jasieniak explained that it will depend on the success of scaling the technology.

“We are aiming to get there within 10 years,” he said.

Image caption: A semitransparent perovskite solar cell with contrasting levels of light transparency. Image credit: Dr Jae Choul Yu.

source http://sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/energy/news/electricity-generating-windows-follow-solar-cell-breakthrough-830472969

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