Semiconductors are key enablers of the Information Age we live in. Indeed, they are essential constituents of the numerous electronic and optoelectronic devices (e.g., computers, displays, imagers, sensors) that continue to improve our quality of life whilst sustaining global economic and societal development. Additionally, semiconductors are essential in energy harvesting technologies such as photovoltaics, which are key to tackling the global rising energy demand and climate change.

The Pecunia Research Group for Thin-Film Optoelectronics investigates emerging, environmentally-friendly, printable semiconductors (organic semiconductors, lead-free perovskites, carbon nanotube networks, metal-oxide semiconductors), and their applications in electronics, optoelectronics, and photovoltaics. Not only are these semiconductors environmentally benign, but they can also be processed in the form of inks, at low temperatures, and on flexible, low-cost plastic substrates. This allows their use in the fabrication of electronic, optoelectronic, and photovoltaic devices with inexpensive, facile processes—for instance, inkjet printing, which is the same basic technology with which we print documents and photos in our homes. Moreover, the unique properties of these printable semiconductors open up new application space that is currently inaccessible by chip-size electronics/optoelectronics—e.g., point-of-use, flexible devices in unique form factors for health monitoring, smart homes, smart packaging, smart cities, and indoor energy harvesting.

The overarching goal of the Pecunia Research Group is to contribute to the development of emerging, environmentally-friendly, printable semiconductors that are able to address societal challenges in sustainability and healthcare, and that can provide opportunities to improve our quality of life. Specifically, our research aims to:

• provide insight into the structure-property relationships underlying emerging printable semiconductors—with emphasis on charge transport, photoconversion efficiency, and defect states;

• rationally condition the structure, composition, and interfaces of these semiconductors towards high (opto-)electronic device performance (e.g., in thin-film transistors, photodetectors, solar cells);

• explore the capability of these semiconductors to address emerging application areas that involve green, flexible, energy-autonomous electronics/ optoelectronics, as well as flexible, low-cost photovoltaics.

Please click on any of the research areas listed in the sidebar if you would like to know more about our research activities.