DeKALB | Chemistry and biochemistry professor Tao Xu and a student research team are collecting data for a research project at NIU about converting light into electricity in an eco-friendly way.

The project uses perovskites, a photovoltaic mineral with high energy efficiency. This allows it to be used for the conversion of light into electricity, Xu said. Silicone is a less environmentally friendly material used to complete the conversion process.

Research began in 2013 and focuses on environmentally friendly energy sources such as gas sensors, hydrogen storage, solar cells, catalysis, Li-ion battery and molecular electronics.

Since 2013, the team has encountered difficulties because collecting, analyzing and interpreting data is time consuming. The research will provide new knowledge to understand fundamental mechanisms and create a new discovery in the field, Xu said.

The research team, consisting of undergraduate and graduate students, decided to use the perovskites because they are formed with organic and inorganic materials and can help eliminate pollution as they don’t affect the environment as much as the solar cells used in other studies, Xu said. It is also easy and less time consuming to convert the light into electricity.

“We are striving to explore renewable energy sources to make it cleaner, cheaper and more efficient,” Xu said.

The team has encountered some failures while working in national labs and at NIU, such as spending time working with materials that were ineffective, which has set them back in completing the project.

They have published multiple papers, which can be found on the Tau Xu group website.

Jordan Rucinski, junior applied math major and chemistry minor, volunteered to work in the chemistry lab and soon joined the research team. Her role on the team is to work on a manuscript about the project’s process and results and test materials like polymers to see if they could work along with the perovskites.

While conducting research, Rucinski learned how to use equipment such as a glove box, which is a sealed container that allows researchers to manipulate objects within a different atmosphere.

“[Perovskites are] an alternative form of energy source, a big field to research, and silicone isn’t the best,” Rucinski said. ”That is why we are looking to replace it.”

Research is continuing, and the team hopes they will be able to discover an environmentally friendly, cheaper way to create solar cells and make them available.

“I will like to encourage students to conduct research with various research groups around campus so they can feel they are tied with NIU,” Xu said.