Chemistry for materials
The research within the physical chemistry group at Karlstad University is fundamental and of applied relevance. The common theme is molecular interactions between components in complex systems; polymer-polymer, polymer-colloid and interactions under concentration gradients. The research is multidisciplinary and combines natural sciences, mainly chemistry and physics, with engineering sciences.
More specifically, morphology in mixed films for organic solar cells, manufactured from solution, electron transfer from donor to acceptor molecules, solvent effects on molecular interactions, solubility in complex fluids, replacement of environmentally harmful solvents with green solvents and effects of microgravity on structure formation are studied. The methods are mainly microscopy, computational chemistry and absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy.
An important aspect of the research is that research collaboration strengthens the results; studying the same scientific questions from multiple aspects leads to a more comprehensive picture of the studied system. This has led to the research in physical chemistry at Karlstad University being carried out in collaboration with other groups in materials science research. Within our own university, we collaborate with researchers in materials physics on systems relevant to organic solar cells, as well as with researchers in chemical engineering and environmental and energy systems on issues related to sustainability. Collaborations with researchers in similar scientific issues include several Swedish universities, as well as foreign universities.
Our research receives financial support from the Swedish National Space Agency and the Swedish Knowledge Foundation.
Selected 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
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
AFM-IR Spectromicroscopy Unveils Hidden Phase Separation in Polymer-Polymer Blend Films for Photovoltaic Applications
Jalan I, Ericsson LKE, Moons E, van Stam J
ACS Appl. Polym. Mater., 2024, 11312-11319, doi: 10.1021/acsapm.4c01883