Dissertation Prize Adlershof 2021 goes to Amran Al-Ashouri
Congratulations: Amran-Al Ashouri (3rd from right) wins the 2021 Dissertation Award. A total of three nominees gave exciting presentations at the event. © IGAFA/Matthias Brandt
The world record cell from HZB. With his research, Amran Al-Ashouri made an important contribution to this success. © Amran Al-Ashouri /HZB
02:15
On February 17, 2022, the Adlershof Dissertation Prize was awarded for the 20th time. Dr. Amran Al-Ashouri (3rd from right) from the HZB young investigator research group "Perovskite tandem solar cells" received the prize endowed with 3,000 euros. The physicist is researching how new organic contact layers can be used to optimize highly efficient perovskite silicon tandem solar cells.
Today's solar modules are mainly made of silicon, and it is no longer possible to significantly increase their efficiency. For some years now, perovskites have therefore become an important focus of research. These semiconductor compounds efficiently convert sunlight into electrical energy. In particular, they can be excellently combined with silicon solar cells to form tandem solar cells that can use sunlight much more efficiently.
In his doctoral thesis, Amran Al-Ashouri developed new organic contact layers for perovskite silicon tandem solar cells and researched the fine-tuning of the electrical interfaces for minimal charge carrier losses. The tandem solar cells realised with several teams at HZB achieved record efficiencies, due to this optimization (see news "World record again at HZB"). Due to their low resource and cost requirements, tandem solar cells represent an important technology that can accelerate the energy transition.
"My PhD thesis is about a novel technology that can boost solar cells. Our goal is that the results in tandem solar cells can be used by industry," Amran Al-Ashouri said at the award ceremony. He said he deliberately chose this research topic. "The technologies for combating the climate crisis are mostly available, however, innovation from research drives the transition and makes their future use more effective."
The Dissertation Award is jointly sponsored and organized each year by the IGAFA e. V. research network, Humboldt University in Berlin and WISTA Management GmbH. This year there were nine applicants, of which three made it to the final selection. The nominees presented their scientific achievements in a vivid way within 15 minutes.
About Amran Al-Ashouri
Dr. Amran Al-Ashouri studied physics at the University of Duisburg-Essen. From September 2017 to February 2021, he completed his doctorate at HZB and the Technical University of Berlin. Since then, the physicist has been working as a postdoc at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin in the young investigator research group "Perovskite tandem solar cells".
- 20 years of promoting science in the school lab38,000 visitors in 20 years: high demand shows need for science education
Twenty years ago, on 29 November 2004, Klaus Böger, then Senator for Education in Berlin, opened one of the capital's first school laboratories. Since then, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB), in cooperation with the Berlin Senate, has successfully promoted science education through project days and further training in the school lab.
- Battery research with the HZB X-ray microscopeNew cathode materials are being developed to further increase the capacity of lithium batteries. Multilayer lithium-rich transition metal oxides (LRTMOs) offer particularly high energy density. However, their capacity decreases with each charging cycle due to structural and chemical changes. Using X-ray methods at BESSY II, teams from several Chinese research institutions have now investigated these changes for the first time with highest precision: at the unique X-ray microscope, they were able to observe morphological and structural developments on the nanometre scale and also clarify chemical changes.
- BESSY II: New procedure for better thermoplasticsBio-based thermoplastics are produced from renewable organic materials and can be recycled after use. Their resilience can be improved by blending bio-based thermoplastics with other thermoplastics. However, the interface between the materials in these blends sometimes requires enhancement to achieve optimal properties. A team from the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands has now investigated at BESSY II how a new process enables thermoplastic blends with a high interfacial strength to be made from two base materials: Images taken at the new nano station of the IRIS beamline showed that nanocrystalline layers form during the process, which increase material performance.