Wednesday, 15 November 11:00am – 12:00pm

This seminar will be delivered in Chemistry Lecture Theatre 4

Speaker: A/Prof Enrico Della Gaspera, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

Host: Dr Kaye Kang

Title: A journey into the wet chemical synthesis of semiconductor coatings for optoelectronics

Abstract: Solution processing is an accessible and versatile approach for synthesising structurally and chemically controlled nanomaterials. The ability to control the purity, surface chemistry, and microstructure of solution-processed nanomaterials using tailored reaction chemistry and processing conditions will enable to move away from vacuum-based processes. This will reduce the cost and improve the scalability of nanomaterials and related devices, therefore meeting the increasing demand for cheaper consumer electronics.

In this talk, I will present an overview of solution-based approaches my group has developed over the past few years to grow nanostructured semiconductor coatings via decomposition of suitable precursors directly on the desired substrates for applications in optoelectronics. First, I will discuss the advantages of chemical bath deposition in the fabrication of high-quality inorganic coatings at low temperatures (<80 °C) with excellent control on their optoelectronic properties, enabling applications within solar cells and light emitting devices. Next, I will discuss the versatility of ultrasonic spray pyrolysis, presenting an overview of SnO2-based films as a model system, and then focussing on novel coatings such as CuCrO2, demonstrating the synthesis of transparent conductors able to compete with commercially available products. Finally, I will present some recent results on the synthesis of nanostructured BiVO4 coatings via SILAR (successive ionic layer absorption and reaction) for application in photoelectrochemical water splitting, and of thin films of emerging semiconductors such as silver bismuth sulfide (AgBiS2) and bismuth chalcohalides (BiOI, BiSI) for solar cells and photodetectors.

Bio: Enrico Della Gaspera is Associate Professor of Chemistry and Nanotechnology at RMIT University. He obtained his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Padova, Italy in 2011. After spending 18 months as a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA under the mentorship of Prof. Bruce Dunn working on nanomaterials for energy harvesting and storage, he moved to Melbourne in 2013 as an OCE postdoctoral researcher at CSIRO, where he developed novel wet-chemical syntheses of nanomaterials for optoelectronic devices. In 2016 he joined the School of Science (Applied Chemistry) at RMIT University as a Vice Chancellor’s fellow and in 2017 he was awarded an ARC DECRA. He was then appointed as Senior Lecturer and head of the Nanochemistry Laboratory, and promoted to Associate Professor in 2022. He leads a research group focused on solution-processed inorganic nanocrystals and nanostructures for optoelectronics, plasmonics and catalysis (water splitting).