India and Israel to work together on perovskite solar cells and lithium sulfur batteries

The national Department of Science & Technology has published the list of solar and energy storage projects which will be carried out by Indian and Israeli researchers thanks to a two-year joint funding program by the two nations.

Solar-related topics selected include novel electron and hole transport materials for perovskite solar cells, by the CSIR Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; and mixed-dimensional and hybrid bi-layered perovskites for high-stability, high-efficiency photovoltaic devices, by the CSIR National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Kerala, and the Technion Israel Institute of Technology, based in Haifa.

Perovskites

Research into a halide perovskite-based photo-anode for oxygen evolution reaction – by IIT Bhillai, Chhattisgarh and the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in Beersheba – will be supported; as will a study of the deposition of metal oxides on halide perovskites for PV cells, by IIT Bombay and Bar Ilan University, in Ramat Gan; and research into mono and bimetalic complexes for energy-relevant photocatalysis, by IIT Kanpur and the Technion-Israel Institute.

Researchers at the CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute, Tamil Nadu and Tel Aviv University, will study low-cost, stable lithium-sulfur batteries for solar energy storage and another group, from IIT Bombay and Bar Ilan University, will examine tuning of solid electrolytes for efficient solid state lithium-ion batteries.

The announcement of the initiative prompted 54 research proposals seeking funding. Projects were shortlisted based on their scientific strength, technical aspects, project objectives, and national priorities.