Physical Chemistry
Research in physical chemistry at Karlstad University is fundamental and of applied relevance. The common thread is molecular interactions between components in complex systems; polymer-polymer, polymer-colloid and interactions under concentration gradients.
More specifically, morphology is studied in the films for organic solar cells that constitute the solar cell's active layer, electron transfer from donor to acceptor molecules, solvent effects on molecular interactions and solubility in complex fluids. The methods are preferably absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy and microscopy. In recent times, research has broadened to search for less environmentally harmful solvents, studies of gravitational effects on the morphology of the active layer and molecular modeling of complex systems. The latest addition to the research portfolio is the large, KK-funded, collaboration within Mission 0 House, where we seek to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions in a number of industrial processes.
An important aspect of research is that research collaboration strengthens the results; studying scientific questions from multiple perspectives leads to a more comprehensive picture of the system studied. This has led to research in physical chemistry at Karlstad University being carried out in collaboration with other groups. Within our own university, we collaborate with researchers in materials physics on systems relevant to organic solar cells and with researchers in chemical engineering and environmental and energy systems on environmental improvement measures in industrial processes. Collaborations with researchers in similar scientific questions include several Swedish universities, as well as Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium and Universität Bremen in Germany.
Our research receives financial support from the Swedish National Space Agency and the Knowledge Foundation.
A selection of publications:
Engineering two-phase and three-phase microstructures from water-based dispersions of nanoparticles for exo-friendly polymer solar cell applications
Holmes NP, Marks M, Cave JM, Feron K, Barr MG, Fahy A, Sharma A, Pan X, Kilcoyne DAL, Zhou X, Lewis DA, Andersson MR, van Stam J, Walker AB, Moons E, Belcher WJ, Dastoor PC
Chem. Mater., 2018, 30, 6521-6531, doi: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.8b03222
Fullerene Aggregation in Thin Films of Polymer Blends for Solar Cell Applications
Lindqvist C, Moons E, van Stam J
Materials, 2018, 11, 2068-2075, doi:10.3390/ma11112068
Unravelling donor-acceptor film morphology formation for OPV environmentally-friendly OPV ink formulations
Holmes NP, Munday H, Barr MG, Thomsen L, Marcus MA, Kilcoyne ALD, Fahy A, van Stam J, Dastoor PC, Moons E
Green Chem., 2019, 21, 5090-5103, doi: 10.1039/c9gc02288k
Using Solubility Parameters to Model More Environmentally Friendly Solvent Blends for Organic
Solar Cell Active Layers
Jalan I, Lundin L, van Stam J
Materials, 2019, 12, 3889-3901, doi:10.3390/ma12233889
An experimental setup for dip-coating of thin films for organic solar cells under microgravity conditions
Ericsson LKE, Jalan I, Vaerneus A, Tomtlund T, Ångerman M, van Stam J
Rev. Sci. Instrum., 2021, 92, 015108:1-9, doi:10.1063/5.0018223
In Situ Optical Spectroscopy Demonstrates the Effect of Solvent Additive in the Formation of All-Polymer Solar Cells
Liu Y, Fan Q, Liu H, Jalan I, Jin Y, van Stam J, Moons E, Wang E, Lu X, Inganäs O, Zhang F
J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 2022, 13, 11696-11702, doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c03397
Donor-acceptor polymer complex formation in solution confirmed by spectroscopy and atomic-scale modelling
Jalan I, Marchiori CFN, Genene Z, Johansson A, Araujo CM, Wang E, van Stam J, Moons E
J. Mater. Chem. C., 2023, 11, 93-16-9326, doi: 10.1039/d1tc03853b
In Situ Study the Dynamics of blade-Coated All-Polymer Bulk Heterojunction Formation and Impact on Photovoltaic Performance of Solar Cells
Yao N, Fan Q, Genene Z, Liu H, Xia Y, Wen G, Yuan Y, Moons E, van Stam J, Zhang W, Lu X, Wang E, Zhang F
Solar RRL, 2023, 2201134:1-8, doi: 10.1002/solr.202201134
Donor-acceptor polymer complex formation in solution confirmed by spectroscopy and atomic-scale modelling
Jalan I, Marchiori CFN, Genene Z, Johansson A, Araujo CM, Wang E, van Stam J, Moons E
J. Mater. Chem. C., 2023, 11, 9316-9326, doi: 10.1039/d1tc03853b
AFM-IR spectro-microscopy unveils hidden phase separation in polymer-polymer blend films for photovoltaic applications
Jalan I, Ericsson L, Moons E, van Stam J
ACS Appl. Polym. Mater., 2024, 6 (18), 11312–11319