The Trimmel Group - functional polymers and new materials for photovoltaics
The research focus of the Trimmel Group is devoted to the synthesis of new materials - functional polymers and new absorber materials for solar cells with special emphasis to organic solar cells, inorganic-organic hybrid solar cells, and perowskite solar cells.
organic solar cells: Non-fullerene acceptors have led organic solar cells to new power conversion efficiency records beyond 18%. New acceptor molecules are synthesized, characterized and evaluated in test solar cells. One research topic focuses on the assembly of tandem solar cells.
inorganic-organic hybrid solar cells - nanocomposite solar cells: The absorber layers of these solar cells comprise of a mixture of inorganic nanocrystals with organic semiconducting materials (polymers, small molecules). The focus lies on novel synthetic approaches especially for metal sulfide- polymer systems.
perovskite solar cells: Organo-lead halide perovskite solar cells are currently fascinating the PV community. Current research is focussing on solution based perovskite suitable for roll-to-roll processing, and on lead-free alternative perovskites.
metal sulfide nanocrystals and porous thin films: Based on ideas from the synthesis of hybrid solar cells, current research is focussing on the preparation of porous metal sulifide thin films. Examples are ZnS, CuInS2 and AgBiS2. Some of these materials were also investigated as catalyst for photocatalytic hydrogen production
functional polymers via ROMP: Research is focussing on the preparation of defined (block-co)polymers bearing fluorescent dyes at specific place on the polymer chain enabled by the living polymerisation character of ROMP. Using the self assembling properties of defined block copolymers nanostructured polymer architectures with tuned optical and luminescent properties are possible.
elastomer technology: investigation of rubber-metal adhesion and elastomer thermoplast blends: The adhesion of rubber to brass coated steel wire - the main reinforcing material in many rubber products (tyres, hydraulic hoses, handrails) is of utmost importance for their performance. Research is focussing on establishing new analytical tools for the analysis of the metal-rubber interface as well as on the optimisation of the adhesion. Additionally, research is devoted to the investigation of the preparation of elastomer-thermoplast blends and their mechanical properties
Group members
Group members: Gregor Trimmel (group leader), Thomas Rath (Senior-scientist), Suman Mallick (Post-doc), Bettina Schweda (PhD-student), Carina Frank (PhD-student), Elena Zuccala (PhD-student),Bernhard Sölle (PhD-student), Marco Sigl (PhD-student), Melissa Egger (PhD-student), Stefan Moscher (PhD-student), Julia Hönigsberger (PhD-student), Bernadette Ortner (PhD-student), Konstantin Riem (MSc-student), Marco Zechner (MSc-student), Sarah Holler (student researcher), Konrad Binter (student researcher), Theresa Hartl (student researcher), Johanna Uher (student researcher)
Zuzana Reuter (office manager)
Lukas Troi (engineer), Birgit Ehmann (lab technician), Colien Purkarthofer (apprentice lab technician)
for more details see the group member page
The Trimmel Group @ October 2023
Gregor Trimmel has received his MSc (Dipl.Ing.) (1996) in Technical Chemistry at the Vienna University of Technology, where in 2000 he also received his Ph.D. (Doctor Technicae) (title of the PhD-Thesis “Inorganic organic hybrid materials using organically modified metal alkoxides for the syntheses of nanostructured materials”) in the group of Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schubert.
In 2001 he worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the University Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris VI, France (research group Florence Babonneau) on sol-gel routes to SiOC-ceramics. After a second post-doctoral research stay at the University of Padova, Italy (research group: Lidia Armelao) for 5 months, he joined the Institute for Chemistry and Technology of Organic Materials (since 2009 ICTM, Institute for Chemistry and Technology of Materials) of the Graz University of Technology in August 2002.
In July 2008 he received the venia docendi for Macromolecular Chemistry and Technology (title of the habilitation thesis: Synthetic Routes towards Functional Polymers and Patterned Surface Layers).From August 2008 to September 2019, he was Associate Professor at the ICTM and leading the photovoltaic research group. From June 2008 till October 2013, he was director of the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Nancomposite Solar Cells. Current research activities are focusing on the synthesis and characterisation of new materials in the area of functional polymers and inorganic organic hybrid materials especially for application in photovoltaics.
In September 2019, he was appointed as Full Professor for Chemistry and Technology of Organic Materials at the ICTM.
Univ.-Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.techn.
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