Becky Ladewski Chemical Engineering Grad Student B.A. in Philosophy and B.S. in Chemical Engineering, University of Notre Dame (2007) Hometown: Lawrence, MI Interests: Playing volleyball, baking, camping, singing

Solid State Dye-sensitized Solar Cells Using Bacteriophage-based Nanowires

My project is focused on improving the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). DSSCs are a relatively new type of photovoltaic device that do not utilize the traditional pn-junction scheme for creating electron-hole pairs. Instead, these cells use an electrolyte, a wide bandgap semiconductor, and the metal-to-ligand charge transfer of a “dye” molecule, sensitive to a broad range of the solar spectrum, to harvest the sun’s energy. To increase the short circuit current, we are trying to incorporate titania nanowires into the semiconductor portion of the cell using layer-by-layer assembly. To improve the commercial potential of DSSCs, we are also trying to develop a new polymer-based solid state electrolyte, which would avoid the issues of evaporation or leakage that can occur in most DSSCs today.