Researchers from several European countries gathered for a two-day workshop at Karlstad University. The general theme was research on polymers and their application for organic solar cells and energy storage.
– There are several purposes behind the workshop, says Jan van Stam, Professor of Physical Chemistry. We want to learn from other experts, expand our networks and make new contacts, as well as putting Karlstad University on the map in this field of research. We who organised the workshop are part of the research group SOLA at Karlstad University, and it includes researchers from materials physics, computational materials research and physical chemistry. SOLA is also part of the faculty’s focus area Materials Research.
The research questions concern both organic and perovskite solar cells, solution chemistry, morphology studies and degradation studies – both from an experimental perspective and through theoretical modelling. The research aims to combine a molecular understanding with photophysics, phase behaviour and overall performance.
International participation
The participants in the workshop came from England, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, and in addition to the researchers from Karlstad University, there were researchers from Chalmers and Linköping University. The focus areas of the workshop were thermodynamics and phase behaviour of polymer solutions, microgravity conditions, modelling, photovoltaics and energy storage, as well as characterisation of molecular thin film structures.
– We are very pleased with the turnout and we have had the opportunity to listen to interesting lectures both from our guests and our own researchers, says Jan van Stam. The majority were researchers in the early years of their career, which was great. We had many interesting and fruitful discussions over the course of the two-day workshop.
The workshop was organised with support from the Swedish National Space Agency, and the organisers would also like to thank the Conference Unit, Technical Services and the University Printing Office for all their help.
