Course

Unit I

Concepts in Energy conversion (8 lectures)

Semiconductor junctions, Shockley–Queisser limit, electrical and optical characteristics; Energy conversion at nanoscale, charge carrier dynamics at nanoscale in energy conversion devices

Unit II

Energy conversion devices (12 lectures)

Solar cells: I-V, EQE, CV, and VOC decay, wafer, thin films and excitonic solar cells; carrier transport and loss mechanisms, recombination models; anti-reflective coating, surface texturing; photodetectors and LEDs.

Unit III

Basics of Energy storage (8 Lectures)

Introduction to electrochemistry, potentials and thermodynamics of cells, galvanic and electrolytic cells, kinetics of electrochemical reactions, mass transfer by migration and diffusion, non-Faradaic and Faradaic reactions.

Unit IV

Energy storage devices (10 Lectures)

Positive and negative electrodes of batteries and electrochemical capacitors, advanced batteries with nanoscale materials, Reaction mechanisms and fundamental understanding, cycle-life, capacity, energy and power density assessments, safety concerns and solutions.

Unit V

Electrochemical analysis techniques (8 Lectures)

Electrochemical methods: potentiostatic and galvanostatic, cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, chronopotentiometry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.

Pre-requisites: Basic math, physics and chemistry

Total number of classes: 45

Course Outcomes:

• To understand the basics of energy conversion and storage at nanoscale (phenomena to devices)
• Introduce the fabrication and characterization technologies of Solar cells, batteries, thermo-electric and piezo-electric devices.
• Applications of electrochemical analysis techniques in characterizing energy storage devices

TEXT BOOKS/REFERENCES:

1. Jenny Nelson, “The Physics of Solar Cells”, First Edition, Imperial College Press, 2003.
2. Stephen Fonash, Solar Cell Device Physics – 2nd Edition, Academic Press, 2010
3. L. R. Martinez and N. Omar, Emerging Nanotechnologies in Rechargeable Energy Storage Systems, 1st Edition, Elsevier (2017).
4. G. A. Nazri and G. Pistoia, Lithium Batteries, Springer, 2009.
5. Allen Bard and Larry R. Faulkner, Electrochemical Methods, John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2001.