Title: NANOSCALE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY, NANO-SENSORS AND MICRO-FLUIDICS
Teacher(s): Prof. Mauro Chinappi. Prof. Antonio Agresti
Credits: 5
LEARNING OUTCOMES
The course provides an introduction to recent application of nanotechnologies to energy and sensors. The selected examples will mainly focus on nanotechnology for solar energy (photovoltaics) and the employment of nanofluidic systems for single molecule sensing and nanoporous membrane for energy harvesting from salinity gradients (blue-energy).
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
For what concern the energy module, at the end of the course, the student will know the main features of a photovoltaic systems and the most modern technology for new generation photovoltaics. Concerning the nanofluidics module, the student will be able to understand the main phenomena related to the transport of mass and ions in electrolyte solutions.
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
The student will be able to recognize the range of validity of the various models proposed for the description of fluids at nanoscale. The student will be able to design and characterize a new generation solar cells. She/He will also be able to apply the knowledge and understanding developed during the course to study and understand recent literature.
MAKING JUDGEMENTS
The transversal preparation provided by the course implies: 1) the student’s capability to integrate knowledge and manage complexity, 2) the student ability to deal with new and emerging areas in nanotechnology application to energy and sensing and 3) an understanding of the models suited for a given context and their limitations.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS
The student will be able to communicate the contents of the course to specialists in a clear and unambiguous way. It will also be able to communicate the main features of the models used and their limits to specialists in other related disciplines (example: other engineers, physicists, chemists).
LEARNING SKILLS
The structure of the course contents, characterized by various topics apparently separated but connected by a multi-scale and multi-physics vision, will contribute to developing a systemic learning capacity that will allow the student to approach in a self-directed or autonomous way to other frontier problems on nanotechnology application to energy and sensing. Furthermore, the student will be able to read and understand recent scientific literature.
PREREQUISITES
It is necessary that the student is familiar with the differential and the integral analysis, with the basic aspects of mechanics and thermodynamics, with the main concepts of quantum mechanics.
TOPICS
Ion transport in nanopores
Ion motion in an electrolytic solution. Conductivity and conductance. Quasi-1D model. Access resistance. Application for nanopore sensing: blockade current.
Micro and nanofluidics
Equation of motion. Conservation of mass and momentum. Boundary conditions. Poiseuille flow. Slip boundary condition. Electrohydrodynamics. Transport equation for ions. Electic double layer. Debye length. Blue energy: from salinity gradient to electric energy.
Diffusion
Lagrangian and Eulerian description. Langevin equation. Fluctuation-dissipation relation.
Molecular dynamics simulations
Equation of motion for classical molecular dynamics. Force fields. Lennard-Jones potential. Simulation of biomolecules. Equilibration. Computational laboratory: system set-up and simulation using VMD and NAMD softwares.
NanoEnergy
General introduction on global energy demand focused on solar energy; Introduction on photovoltaics: the photovoltaic effect, p-n junction, main photovoltaic electrical parameters; solar cell characterization techniques; New generation photovoltaics: organic and hybrid devices; Organic solar cells;
Hybrid solar cells
Dye Sensitized solar Cells (DSCs) and modules; Perovskite Solar Cells (PSCs) and modules; Nanomaterials and bi-dimensional (2D) materials: properties and characterization techniques; Perovskite Photovoltaics and 2D materials: power conversion efficiency (PCE), stability and scalability on module dimensions.
EVALUATION
- Type: oral examination.
- Description:The student’s evaluation includes two tests, one for the micro and nanofluidic module and one for the solar energy module. The final evaluation will be obtained averaging the two tests.
Micro and nanofluidics module.
The exam is constituted by a written exam and by a discussion on a topic of independent study selected by the student. The aim of the written exam is to assess the student’s ability to integrate the various topics covered in different parts of the program and, where possible, to make quantitative estimates on specific cases. The student must demonstrate that she/he has understood the links between the various aspects covered in class and that she/he is able to motivate the choice of the models used (and to critically comment on their limits) according to the features of the problem under consideration.
Concerning the discussion of a topic selected by the students, during the course, the teacher will provide a list of possible topics. The student will select a single topic that will be discussed during the exam. The discussion will allow us to evaluate the ability to learn independently and the communication skills developed by the student.Solar module:
The examination consists in an oral discussion devoted to verify the capability in designing new generation photovoltaic devices with the help of modern nanotechnologies and nanomaterials. Moreover, during the examination students will ask to report about the most recent literature regarding the treated topics..The oral exam consists in three theoretical questions (each contributes with 10/30 to the final vote). The exam evaluates the overall preparation of the student, the ability to integrate the knowledge of the different parts of the program, the consequentiality of the reasoning, the analytical ability and the autonomy of judgment. Furthermore, language properties and clarity of presentation are assessed, in compliance with the Dublin descriptors (1. Knowledge and understanding; 2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding; 3 . Making judgments; 4. Learning skills; 5: Communication skills).
The final vote of the exam is expressed out of thirty and will be obtained through the following graduation system:
Not pass: important deficiencies and / or inaccuracies in the knowledge and understanding of the topics; limited capacity for analysis and synthesis, frequent generalizations and limited critical and judgment skills, the arguments are presented in an inconsistent way and with inappropriate language,
18-20: just sufficient knowledge and understanding of the topics with possible generalizations and imperfections; sufficient capacity for analysis, synthesis and autonomy of judgment, the topics are frequently exposed in an inconsistent way and with inappropriate / technical language,
21-23: Routine knowledge and understanding of topics; ability to analyze and synthesize with sufficiently coherent logical argument and appropriate / technical language
24-26: Fair knowledge and understanding of the topics; good analysis and synthesis skills with rigorously expressed arguments but with a language that is not always appropriate / technical.
27-29: Complete knowledge and understanding of the topics; remarkable abilities of analysis and synthesis. Good autonomy of judgment. Topics exposed rigorously and with appropriate / technical language
30-30L: Excellent level of knowledge and in-depth understanding of the topics. Excellent skills of analysis, synthesis and autonomy of judgment. Arguments expressed in an original way and with appropriate technical language.
ADOPTED TEXTS
Theoretical Microfluidics, Henrik Bruus, Oxford University Press (2008)
(notes of the course provided by the professors).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
M. San Miguel, and R. Toral. “Stochastic effects in physical systems” Instabilities and Non-equilibrium Structure VI, Springer, (2000).
Varongchayakul, N., Song, J., Meller, A., & Grinstaff, M. W. (2018). Single-molecule protein sensing in a nanopore: a tutorial. Chemical Society Reviews, 47(23), 8512-8524.
Sonali Das, Deepak Pandey, Jayan Thomas, and Tania Roy “The Role of Graphene and Other 2D Materials in Solar Photovoltaics”, Adv. Mater. 2019, 31, 1802722.
Philip Schulz, “Interface Design for Metal Halide Perovskite Solar Cells”, ACS Energy Lett. 2018, 3, 1287−1293.
DELIVERY MODE (Presence/e-learning)
Presence. The course is held by lectures including theory and exercises.
TEACHING METHODS
The course follows a traditional teaching model based on lectures and exercises. The introductory lessons will mainly be carried out on the blackboard, deriving the equations in a traditional and rigorous way. The rest of the course will also use presentations. The material will be published on-line typically before classes. As part of the study of Molecular Dynamics simulations, two lessons will be held in the computer lab where the students will set-up and equilibrate a system.