Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Materials and Technologies for Energy Conversion (MATEC) is the first provincial level research platform of Guangdong Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (GTIIT) being recognized by the Guangdong government. As a cross-discipline, high-level and international key research platform, MATEC gathers specialists and scholars from top institutes and universities to explore the research frontiers of energy materials.

The MATEC Seminar, one of the main academic events of the Laboratory, has invited MATEC professors, graduate students and external experts to give academic lectures and share their research results. MATEC takes advantage of its features and team members to facilitate collaboration and talent training.

Student Seminar

MATEC has regular student seminars for academic sharing and exchange. Since April 6, three seminars have been held. Prof. Wang Nan from GTIIT Materials Science and Engineering Program and graduate student He Huihui hosted the first seminar, in which two PhD students gave academic report.

In Liu Xiaojing's report entitled Microstructure evolution in metals characterized by in-situ modern quantum beam diffraction methods (synchrotron and neutron), she described the disadvantages of surface-sensitive techniques in conventional research of materials. Two examples with respect to applications of synchrotron and neutron in metals were given to discuss the microstructure evolution, phase transformation, recovery and recrystallization processes upon heating.

Wu Xudong gave a report on The development of dielectric polymer composites for film capacitor application. Dielectric films find wide usages in microelectronics, power electronics, power grids, and the military. Due to the vast demand, the development of advanced dielectrics with high energy storage capability has received extensive attention. He mentioned that the complex polymer structures may contain hundreds of layers using advanced co-extrusion or solution casting techniques but thick film thickness are not suitable for capacitor application. Interestingly, the Atomic layer deposition (ALD) coating method provides a promising alternative approach for enhancing the dielectric strength on the path of decreasing thickness. It could play an essential role in multilayer dielectric film processing after systematic investigation and scale-up attempts.

Through the evaluation of the MATEC Student Seminar Committee, a total of seven students were awarded:

• Outstanding Speakers: Zhang Fuming, Liu Xiaojing

• Outstanding Guest Speakers: Wu Xudong, Zhang Chenchen, Cheng Tiansong

• Outstanding Organizers: He Yijian, He Huihui

Lectures by MATEC Members

• Speaker: Prof. He Xuezhong (GTIIT CE)

Title: Membranes for CO₂ Separation: from Fundamental Research to Industrial Application

• Speaker: Prof. Elissaios Stavrou (GTIIT MSE)

Title: The Quest for a Novel Periodic Table Under Pressure: using pressure to synthesize novel materials

• Speaker: Prof. Wang Nan (GTIIT MSE)

Title: Computational Modelling for Materials Science and More

• Speaker: Prof. Woo Jin Hyun (GTIIT MSE)

Title: Solution-Processable Two-Dimensional Materials for Electrochemical Energy Storage

Lecture by External Experts

Dr. He Zhubing from Department of Materials Science and Engineering of Southern University of Science and Technology was invited to give a lecture, titled Interface Engineering for Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells as the first MATEC academic lecture by external experts.

Interface engineering plays a crucial role in photovoltaic and optoelectronic devices, regarding dissociation, transport and collection of carriers in devices. It also determines the performance of metal halide perovskite solar cells. In this talk, Dr. He Zhubing reported the progress of his group on systematical interface engineerings of inverted perovskite solar cells, especially such three interfaces as perovskite/hole-transport layer, perovskite/electron-transport layer and electron-transport layer/rear electrode. By means of characterization protocols on device physics, the effects of interfacial passivation, induced film growth and band level alignment are well discovered, along with the physical mechanisms of suppressing the electron-hole irradiative recombination and herein enhancing the carriers transport rate. Particularly, he also presented the in-situ imaging of iodine ions migration and thereafter the device degradation by cryogenic high resolution transmission electronic microscopy along with its associated electron energy loss spectroscopy. By use of phthalocyanine molecules, we block the migration of iodine ions by coordinating them with the functional groups of phthalocyanine, realizing a remarkable record of light-soaking test timeline (T90) of 2034 hours. Meanwhile, he also introduced his progress on semitransparent perovskite solar cells and their based high-performance tandem solar cells.

MATEC has planned a series of expert lectures and graduate seminars for the winter semester. Please stay tuned for further announcements.

Text/Photos: GTIIT News & Public Affairs