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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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THE SCHOOL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Under the provisions of the regulations for the degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
on Tuesday, September 10, 2019
10:00 AM
in ES&T L1105
will be held the
DISSERTATION PROPOSAL DEFENSE
for
Abigail A. Advincula
"An Investigation into the Effects of Side-Chain Engineering in Polymer Organic Solar Cells"
Committee Members:
Prof. John R. Reynolds, Advisor, CHEM/MSE
Prof. Blair Brettmann, CHBE/MSE
Prof. Stefan France, CHEM
Prof. Rampi Ramprasad, MSE
Prof. Natalie Stingelin, MSE/CHBE
Abstract:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) offer a potential means to produce clean and efficient energy, having recently realized >15% power conversion efficiency in single-junction solar cells. Commercialization of OSCs, however, necessitates long-term device stability and scalable fabrication methods as well as a deeper understanding of the relationship between morphology and device performance. Development of new families of organic structures and processing methods is key to a more complete knowledge of the fundamentals of OSCs.
In the proposed work, a multi-faceted approach leveraging synthesis, characterization, and device fabrication is outlined to understand OSC fundamentals. We have recently synthesized a family of thienopyrroledione-based polymers with acceptor unit side chains of increasing bulk to study the consequent effect on molecular packing and fullerene proximity. A proposed second family of benzodithiophene based polymers will be studied to consider the effect of sidechain regio-isomerism on materials properties and device statistics. By identifying the relationships between structure, properties, and performance, this work will enable the rational design of high efficiency OSCs.
