Title: Innovative Nanomaterials for Renewable Energy Devices

Abstract

This presentation focuses on the study and exploitation of innovative materials in next-generation energy conversion devices, aiming at the sustainable transformation of solar energy into electricity and carbon-neutral fuels. In particular, third-generation photovoltaic devices based on organometal halide perovskites are examined, alongside photoelectrochemical systems for hydrogen production via solar-driven water splitting.

Organometal halide perovskites are outstanding semiconductor materials, exhibiting strong absorption in the visible spectrum and high-power conversion efficiencies. Despite their advantages, their large-scale application is currently limited by the cost and stability of conventional hole-transporting materials and metallic electrodes. In this context, the use of Copper Phthalocyanine (CuPc) is presented as an alternative, low-cost, and robust hole-transporting material, together with the development of fully printable carbon based, hole trasporter-free, perovskite photovoltaic devices.

In parallel, the use of innovative semiconductors in photoelectrochemical devices for hydrogen production is investigated, with particular emphasis on BiVO₄ as a promising photocatalyst due to its enhanced absorption in the visible region of the solar spectrum.

The presentation concludes with a short research plan, building upon the presented results, which focuses on the optimization and further development of efficient, stable, and low-cost materials and device architectures for sustainable energy applications.