Defect Tolerance: Perfect Imperfection (UCL Research Poster Competition 2021)

My entry to the 2021 UCL Research Poster Competition.
YouTube talk here: https://youtu.be/XL17v5YxlKU

If you're interested in this work, please check out our open-access review on perovskite-inspired materials and defect tolerance here:
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6528/abcf6d

For other research articles see:
https://bit.ly/3pBMxOG

For other talks on YouTube see:
https://bit.ly/2U5YgLf

Transcript

1. Defect Tolerance:
   Perfect Imperfection
   Seán
   Kavanagh
   Even though these atomic ‘mistakes’ may occur only
   once for every billion normal atoms, like DNA, they
   can significantly alter the resulting macroscopic
   properties.
   Just as a single genetic mutation can change your eye
   colour from brown to blue, a tiny amount of defects
   can kill device performance in a range of important
   technologies, such as solar cells, batteries in electric
   vehicles, pacemakers and iPhones, or even LEDs in
   your TV and phone screens.
   Scan me with your phone camera for
   a 4 minute YouTube talk on this work!
   Or search/click:
   youtu.be/H8cvJfZq8S8
   @Kavanagh_Sean_
   sean.kavanagh.19@ucl.ac.uk
   a
   Supervisor:
   Prof David Scanlon (Chemistry)
   Captions
   a. Like genetic mutations in DNA, rare but
   omnipresent ‘imperfections’ in materials can
   cause major overall changes, such as preventing
   the efficient conversion of sunlight to electricity in
   solar cells.
   b. Outline of a typical high-throughput screening
   investigation, with a large input material search
   space assessed using chemical rules and quantum
   mechanical calculations to predict material
   properties and performance. From this, a small
   selection of promising defect-tolerant candidates
   are obtained, for further experimental verification
   and development in low-cost high-efficiency
   devices.
   Like the rare, random mutations in DNA which
   facilitate evolution, all materials contain faults in the
   arrangement of their atoms, known as ‘defects’.
   These wonder materials could revolutionise the energy sector, making the dream of cheap
   renewable energy a reality.
   In our lab, we use quantum mechanical calculations to understand the atomic properties of
   these materials and their defects, before then leveraging this understanding to search
   unexplored chemical space for materials that fit this criteria.
   Given that there are trillions of compounds and materials yet to be discovered, we are
   hopeful that we will soon find the ‘needle in the haystack’ that exhibits defect tolerance and is
   stable, non-toxic and earth-abundant.
   The future is bright for solar technology!
   Recently, an exciting new class of ‘defect-tolerant’ materials has emerged – which retain high
   device efficiencies despite large concentrations of defects, allowing extremely cheap
   manufacturing costs.
   b
   A missing atom here, an atom in the wrong place there.
   Check out our recent review paper on this topic:
   Huang, Y.-T.; Kavanagh, S. R.; Scanlon, D. O.; Walsh,
   A.; Hoye, R. L. Z. Perovskite-Inspired Materials for
   Photovoltaics and beyond; from Design to Devices.
   Nanotechnology 2021, 32 (13), 132004.
   doi.org/10.1088/1361-6528/abcf6d.
   

   View Slide