CANCELED -- PMI/PCCM SEMINAR SERIES SPRING 2024: Michael McGehee, University of Colorado Boulder

Date
May 1, 2024, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Details

Event Description

Perovskite Tandem Solar Cells and Windows with Adjustable Tinting Based on Reversible Metal Electrodeposition

Abstract: Metal halide perovskite semiconductors have remarkable properties for solar cells, including band gap tunability and defect tolerance, that have enabled the fabrication of perovskite-silicon tandems with 33.9 % power conversion efficiency.  Tandems can easily be 50 % more efficient than silicon solar cells alone and could revolutionize an industry that is transforming the way humanity obtains energy.  The design of these tandems and efforts to make them stable as well as mechanically durable will be addressed.

Windows with adjustable tinting not only reduce glare without blocking views, but can also reduce energy use for lighting, heating and cooling by 20 %.  Decades of research in electrochromic materials have not yet resulted in windows that are color neutral, sufficiently durable and cost effective.  A new approach based on reversible metal electrodeposition will be presented.  RME window are color neutral, have superb dynamic range and inexpensive at scale.  Tynt Technologies is commercializing this device, which could be thought of as a battery that is transparent in one of its states.

Bio: Mike McGehee graduated with a degree in physics from Princeton in 1994 and was in the first graduating class of the Materials Science and Engineering Certificate Program. He is now a Professor in the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department at the University of Colorado Boulder. He is the Associate Director of the Materials Science and Engineering Program and has a joint appointment at the National Renewable Energy Lab. He is a cofounder and the Chief Scientist of Tynt Technologies, a company that is commercializing dynamic windows based on reversible metal electrodeposition. He is an advisor to Swift Solar, which was cofounded by former members of his research group. He was a professor in the Materials Science and Engineering Department at Stanford University for 18 years. His current research interests are developing new materials for smart windows and solar cells. He has previously done research on polymer lasers, light-emitting diodes and transistors as well as transparent electrodes made from carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires. His group makes materials and devices, performs a wide variety of characterization techniques, models devices and assesses long-term stability. He received his He received his PhD degree in Materials Science from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

All seminars are held on Wednesdays from 12:00 noon-1:00 p.m. in the Bowen Hall Auditorium Room 222. A light lunch is provided at 11:30 a.m. in the Bowen Hall Atrium immediately prior to the seminar.