mad4pv

The Group of Materials and Devices for Photovoltaics (MAD4PV), led by Prof. Simona Binetti, operates within the Department of Materials Science at the University of Milano-Bicocca and is closely interconnected with the MIB-SOLAR Solar Energy Research Center, founded in 2010 and directed by Prof. Binetti.

The Group’s research activities are focused on the design, chemical synthesis, optimisation, and numerical simulation of emerging, sustainable thin-film photovoltaic materials. The activities also focus on the fabrication and characterisation of solar cells on different substrates, including glass and metal foils, for both indoor and outdoor applications. In particular, the current topics are:

• Synthesis of kesterite-based compounds (Cu₂ZnSnS₄ (CZTS), Cu₂ZnSn(S,Se)₄ (CZTSSe) and Cu₂ZnSnSe₄ (CZTSe)) and halide perovskites (ABX₃) for energy harvesting applications using solution-based techniques.
• Fabrication and optoelectronic characterisation of thin-film solar cells in flexible, semi-transparent, and tandem configurations for indoor and outdoor applications.
• Development of innovative charge extractors for silicon-based solar cells, functional nanomaterials, buffer layers, and optical coatings for kesterite- and perovskite-based devices grown via Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) for advanced device tuning.
• Device modelling and simulation for solar cell optimisation.

Beyond conventional photovoltaic applications, the group explores these emerging materials for different applications. Current efforts include the development of kesterite nanoparticles for photocatalysis processes and the growth of single crystals of lead-halide perovskites for radiation detection in astroparticle physics.

All the research lines are corroborated by a strong interdisciplinary synergy between materials science, chemistry, and semiconductor physics, covering the entire development chain from materials synthesis to PV devices.