Singlet and triplet energy transfer In two-dimensional hybrid perovskites

Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites (HOIPs) are under intense investigation for their use in various optoelectronic applications such as solar cells, photodetectors, and light-emitting diodes. Over the past years, the sub-class of 2D HOIPs has gained increasing attention due to their enhanced intrinsic stability on the one hand, and their structural and compositional flexibility on the other hand. Via the use of tailored organic cations, the energy levels of the organic layer can be tuned relative to those of the inorganic layer. The vast library of potential organic cations provides a wide playing field for materials chemists, but rational design approaches for this class of hybrid materials toward targeted emission properties remain lacking. The goal of INTENSITY is to set up a combined computational-experimental methodology to gain an in-depth understanding of the charge- and energy transfer processes between the inorganic and organic layers to predict and design 2D HOIPs with desired emission properties. The project is funded under the Weave initiative by the F.R.S.-FNRS, FWO, and DFG.

To reach the ambitious goals of INTENSITY, the project combines the highly complementary expertise of research groups at the University of Mons (UMons), Hasselt University (UHasselt), and the Chemnitz University of Technology (TU Chemnitz):

• Dr. David Beljonne (supervisor-spokesperson) is an FNRS research director at the UMons with the Laboratory for Chemistry of Novel Materials (CMN). Together with Dr. Claudio Quarti (FRNS research associate), he has made major contributions in the field of molecular modeling as applied to conjugated organic and hybrid organic-inorganic semiconductors. In INTENSITY, the CMN group will develop and evaluate a computational framework for the modeling of charge and energy transfer processes in 2D HOIPs.
• Prof. dr. Wouter Van Gompel (supervisor) leads the Hybrid Materials Design (HyMaD) group at UHasselt. The group focuses on the design and synthesis of low-dimensional HOIPs containing tailored organic cations, with the goal of achieving synergy between the organic and inorganic parts of the hybrids. HyMaD is involved in INTENSITY for the design, synthesis, and material characterization of novel 2D HOIPs.
• Prof. dr. Simon Kahmann (supervisor) leads KahmannLab at TU Chemnitz. The group focuses on experimental semiconductor physics, with a strong background in photophysics. In INTENSITY, KahmannLab will perform a detailed spectroscopic investigation of 2D HOIPs in order to gain in-depth insights into carrier dynamics and transfer processes.