Assoc Prof Udo Bach - Researcher Profile

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Address

Materials Engineering
Faculty of Engineering, Clayton

Biography

The next step in solar power

The global population is consuming more than 14 terawatts of power every second. It is an amount of energy almost beyond comprehension, and yet by the year 2050 this consumption could double. Alternative energy researcher Associate Professor Udo Bach believes only a significant increase in solar energy use can satisfy this demand for power.

 

Udo's work has always been driven by an awareness that our modern society is under threat from its own lust for energy.  It is the reason he travelled to Switzerland as a PhD student to work with world-renown energy scientist and inventor of the dye-sensitised solar cell, Professor Michael Grätzel at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne. 

Dye-sensitised solar cells potentially offer next generation advantages over conventional solar panels, especially in terms of simplicity and cost. Although the new cells have been the subject of great endeavour, their effectiveness has not been on par with high-performance silicon solar cells.

This is where Udo's work begins. Almost a decade after beginning his research with Professor Grätzel, Udo is now developing several new technologies to capture the potential of dye-sensitised cells.

Working within the Victorian Consortium for Organic Solar Cells, Udo is confident that the new type of solar power has a key role to play in meeting the future energy needs of the  global population, without irrevocably damaging the Earth. 

"Our contribution could be that we provide a disruptive photovoltaic technology, one which is a clear step from where we are now," Udo says.

"Currently photovoltaic technology is getting cheaper only in scale with the volume we produce. We are hoping that we can come up with something that is an important step, and will dramatically change the situation.

"I'm almost certain that within the decade photovoltaics will become extremely important and play a major role in global energy.  Soon we will see photovoltaics in a position where it is economically viable and people might opt for photovoltaics as an energy solution simply because it's cheaper, not just because it's cleaner."

Udo is tackling the practical challenges of enhancing dye-sensitised cells through several different technologies. He has pioneered the theoretical foundations of boosting the output of organic cells by stacking them in tandem in a process similar to conventional solar cell arrangements. This process could boost energy conversion beyond current limits. 

He is also developing back-contact solar cells. This technique removes the collecting electrode from the top of cells and links the previously separated positive and negative charge collectors at the back of the cell, ending a problem of shading. 

Along with Monash colleagues, he is working to find non-corrosive alternatives to the liquids presently used to transport charge internally. Such a development would allow the use of new materials in cell construction, potentially leading to conversion increases.

Udo's energy work is complemented by his nanotechnology research as a Technology Research Fellow with The Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication. He is engaged on a project where he is developing novel nanofabrication technology, combining conventional 'top-down' fabrication techniques with new 'bottom-up' assembly techniques.

With the use of blue prints from conventional nanopatterns, he has created nanostructures from nanometre-sized building blocks. He will then be able to perfect a universal assembly technique for use in future generations of solar cells, computing devices and sensors.

 

 

Qualifications

CHEMISTRY
Institution: Swiss Fed Inst of Tech-Lausanne
Year awarded: 2000

Publications

Journal Articles

Kashif, M., Axelson, J.C., Duffy, N.W., Forsyth, C.M., Chang, C.J., Long, J.R., Spiccia, L., Bach, U., 2012, A new direction in dye-sensitized solar cells redox mediator development: In situ fine-tuning of the cobalt(ll)/(lll) redox potential through Lewis base interactions, Journal Of The American Chemical Society [P], vol 134, issue 40, ACS, Washington DC USA, pp. 16646-16653.

Bach, U., Daeneke, T., 2012, A solid advancement for dye-sensitized solar cells, Angewandte Chemie - International Edition [P], vol 51, issue 42, Wiley-VCH Verlag GMBH, Weinheim Germany, pp. 10451-10452.

Reineck, P., Lee III, G., Brick, D., Karg, M., Mulvaney, P.C., Bach, U., 2012, A solid-state plasmonic solar cell via metal nanoparticle self-assembly, Advanced Materials [P], vol 24, issue 35, Wiley-VCH Verlag GMBH, Weinheim Germany, pp. 4750-4755.

Gupta, A., Ali, A., Bilic, A., Gao, M., Hegedus, K., Singh, B., Watkins, S.E., Wilson, G.J., Bach, U., Evans, R.A., 2012, Absorption enhancement of oligothiophene dyes through the use of a cyanopyridone acceptor group in solution-processed organic solar cells, Chemical Communications [P], vol 48, issue 13, RSC, Cambridge UK, pp. 1889-1891.

Daeneke, T., Uemura, Y., Duffy, N.W., Mozer, A.J., Koumura, N., Bach, U., Spiccia, L., 2012, Aqueous dye-sensitized solar cell electrolytes based on the ferricyanide-ferrocyanide redox couple, Advanced Materials [P], vol 24, issue 9, Wiley-Blackwell, Malden MA USA, pp. 1222-1225.

Zhang, X.L., Zhang, Z., Huang, F., Bauerle, P., Bach, U., Cheng, Y., 2012, Charge transport in photocathodes based on the sensitization of NiO nanorods, Journal Of Materials Chemistry [P], vol 22, issue 14, Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge UK, pp. 7005-7009.

Daeneke, T., Mozer, A.J., Kwon, T., Duffy, N.W., Holmes, A.B., Bach, U., Spiccia, L., 2012, Dye regeneration and charge recombination in dye-sensitized solar cells with ferrocene derivatives as redox mediators, Energy & Environmental Science [P], vol 5, issue 5, Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge England, pp. 7090-7099.

Daeneke, T., Mozer, A.J., Uemura, Y., Makuta, S., Fekete, M., Tachibana, Y., Koumura, N., Bach, U., Spiccia, L., 2012, Dye regeneration kinetics in dye-sensitized solar cells, Journal Of The American Chemical Society [P], vol 134, issue 41, American Chemical Society, Washington DC USA, pp. 16925-16928.

Powar, S.R., Wu, Q., Weidelener, M., Nattestad, A., Hu, Z., Mishra, A., Bauerle, P., Spiccia, L., Cheng, Y., Bach, U., 2012, Improved photocurrents for p-type dye-sensitized solar cells using nano-structured nickel(II) oxide microballs, Energy & Environmental Science [P], vol 5, issue 10, Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge England, pp. 8896-8900.

Gupta, A., Ali, A., Singh, B., Bilic, A., Bach, U., Evans, R.A., 2012, Molecular engineering for panchromatic absorbing oligothiophene donor-pi-acceptor organic semiconductors , Tetrahedron [P], vol 68, issue 46, Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd, England UK, pp. 9440-9447.

Cappel, U., Daeneke, T., Bach, U., 2012, Oxygen-induced doping of spiro-MeOTAD in solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells and its impact on device performance, Nano Letters [P], vol 12, issue 9, American Chemical Society, Washington DC USA, pp. 4925-4931.

Fu, D., Huang, P., Bach, U., 2012, Platinum coated counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells fabricated by pulsed electrodeposition-correlation of nanostructure, catalytic activity and optical properties, Electrochimica Acta [P], vol 77, Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd, Oxford UK, pp. 121-127.

Thai, T., Zheng, Y., Ng, S.H., Mudie, S., Altissimo, M., Bach, U., 2012, Self-assembly of vertically aligned gold nanorod arrays on patterned substrates, Angewandte Chemie - International Edition in English [E], vol 51, issue 35, Wiley VCH Verlag GMBH, Weinheim Germany, pp. 8732-8735.

Zhang, X.L., Zhang, Z., Cheng, D., Bauerle, P., Bach, U., Cheng, Y., 2012, Sensitization of nickel oxide: improved carrier lifetime and charge collection by tuning nanoscale crystallinity, Chemical Communications [P], vol 48, issue 79, The Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge UK, pp. 9885-9887.

Tong, L., Iwase, A., Nattestad, A., Bach, U., Weidelener, M., Gotz, G., Mishra, A., Bauerle, P., Amal, R., Wallace, G.G., Mozer, A.J., 2012, Sustained solar hydrogen generation using a dye-sensitised NiO photocathode/BiVO4 tandem photo-electrochemical device, Energy & Environmental Science [P], vol 5, issue 11, Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge UK, pp. 9472-9475.

Weidelener, M., Mishra, A., Nattestad, A., Powar, S.R., Mozer, A.J., Mena-Osteritz, E., Cheng, Y., Bach, U., Bauerle, P., 2012, Synthesis and characterization of perylene-bithiophene-triphenylamine triads: studies on the effect of alkyl-substitution in p-type NiO based photocathodes, Journal Of Materials Chemistry [P], vol 22, issue 15, The Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge UK, pp. 7366-7379.

Kwon, T., Armel, V., Nattestad, A., Macfarlane, D., Bach, U., Lind, S., Gordon, K., Tang, W., Jones, D., Holmes, A., 2011, Dithienothiophene (DTT)-based dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells: Synthesis of 2,6-dibromo-DTT, Journal Of Organic Chemistry [P], vol 76, issue 10, American Chemical Society, Washington USA, pp. 4088-4093.

Nattestad, A., Zhang, X.L., Bach, U., Cheng, Y., 2011, Dye-sensitized CuA1O2 photocathodes for tandem solar cell applications, Journal of Photonics for Energy [E], vol 1, SPIE -International Society for Optics and Photonics, USA, pp. 1-9.

Zhang, X., Huang, F., Nattestad, A., Wang, K., Fu, D., Mishra, A., Bauerle, P., Bach, U., Cheng, Y., 2011, Enhanced open-circuit voltage of p-type DSC with highly crystalline NiO nanoparticles, Chemical Communications [P], vol 47, issue 16, The Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge UK, pp. 4808-4810.

Zhang, X., Huang, F., Nattestad, A., Wang, K., Fu, D., Mishra, A., Bauerle, P., Bach, U., Cheng, Y., 2011, Enhanced open-circuit voltage of p-type DSC with highly crystalline NiO nanoparticles, Chemical Communications [P], vol 47, issue 16, The Royal Society of Chemistry, UK, pp. 4808-4810.

Zheng, Y., Lalander, C., Thai, T., Dhuey, S., Cabrini, S., Bach, U., 2011, Gutenberg-style printing of self-assembled nanoparticle arrays: Electrostatic nanoparticles immobilization and DNA-mediated transfer, Angewandte Chemie - International Edition [P], vol 50, issue 19, Wiley Blackwell, USA, pp. 4398-4402.

Daeneke, T., Kwon, T., Holmes, A., Duffy, N., Bach, U., Spiccia, L., 2011, High-efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells with ferrocene-based electrolytes, Nature Chemistry [P], vol 3, issue 3, Nature Publishing Group, United Kingdom, pp. 211-215.

Chi, C., Chen, P., Lee, Y., Liu, I., Chou, S., Zhang, X., Bach, U., 2011, Surface modifications of CdS/CdSe co-sensitized TiO2 photoelectrodes for solid-state quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells, Journal Of Materials Chemistry [P], vol 21, issue 43, The Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge UK, pp. 1-7.

Lalander, C., Zheng, Y., Dhuey, S., Cabrini, S., Bach, U., 2010, DNA-directed self-assembly of gold nanoparticles onto nanopatterned surfaces: controlled placement of individual nanoparticles into regular arrays, Acs Nano [P], vol 4, issue 10, American Chemical Society, Washington DC USA, pp. 6153-6161.

Fu, D., Zhang, X., Barber, R., Bach, U., 2010, Dye-sensitized back-contact solar cells, Advanced Materials [P], vol 22, issue 38, Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co KGaA, Germany, pp. 4270-4274.

Nattestad, A., Mozer, A., Fischer, M., Cheng, Y., Mishra, A., Bauerle, P., Bach, U., 2010, Highly efficient photocathodes for dye-sensitized tandem solar cells, Nature Materials [P], vol 9, issue 1, Macmillan Publishers Ltd/Nature Publishing Group, UK, pp. 31-35.

Zheng, Y., Lalander, C., Bach, U., 2010, Nanoscale force induced size-selective separation and self-assembly of metal nanoparticles: Sharp colloidal stability thresholds and hcp ordering, Chemical Communications [P], vol 46, issue 42, The Royal Society of Chemistry, UK, pp. 7963-7965.

Thompson, S., Duffy, N., Bach, U., Cheng, Y., 2010, On the role of the spacer layer in monolithic dye-sensitized solar cells, Journal of Physical Chemistry C [P], vol 114, issue 5, American Chemical Society, USA, pp. 2365-2369.

Han, H., Bach, U., Cheng, Y., Caruso, R.A., MacRae, C., 2009, A design for monolithic all-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells with a platinized carbon counterelectrode, Applied Physics Letters [P], vol 94, issue 10, American Institute of Physics, USA, pp. 103102-1-103102-3.

Fredin, K., Anderson, K., Duffy, N., Wilson, G., Fell, C., Hagberg, D., Sun, L., Bach, U., Lindquist, S., 2009, Effect on cell efficiency following thermal degradation of dye-sensitized mesoporous electrodes using N719 and D5 sensitizers, Journal of Physical Chemistry C [P], vol 113, American Chemical Society, Washington DC USA, pp. 18902-18906.

Nattestad, A., Ferguson, M., Kerr, R.J.P., Cheng, Y., Bach, U., 2008, Dye-sensitized nickel(II)oxide photocathodes for tandem solar cell applications, Nanotechnology [P], vol 19, issue 29, IOP Publishing Ltd, England, UK, pp. 295304-1-295304-9.

Burke, A., Ito, S., Snaith, H., Bach, U., Kwiatkowski, J., Gratzel, M., 2008, The function of a TiO2 compact layer in dye-sensitized solar cells incorporating "planar" organic dyes, Nano Letters [P], vol 8, issue 4, American Chemical Society, USA, pp. 977-981.

Han, H., Bach, U., Cheng, Y., Caruso, R.A., 2007, Increased nanopore filling: Effect on monolithic all-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells, Applied Physics Letters, vol 90, issue 21, American Institute of Physics, NY, USA, pp. 213510-1-213510-3.

Ito, S., Liska, P., Comte, P., Charvet, R., Pechy, P., Bach, U., Schmidt-Mende, L., Zakeeruddin, S.M., Kay, A., Nazeeruddin, M.K., Gratzel, M., 2005, Control of dark current in photoelectrochemical (TiO2/I --I3 -) and dye-sensitized solar cells, Chemical Communications, vol 4.426, Royal Society Chemistry, Cambridge England, pp. 4351-4353.

Schmidt-Mende, L., Bach, U., Humphry-Baker, R., Horiuchi, T., Miura, H., Ito, S., Uchida, S., Gratzel, M., 2005, Organic dye for highly efficient solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells, Advanced Materials, vol 17, issue 7, Wiley-V C H Verlag GMBH, Weinheim Germany, pp. 813-815.

Corr, D., Bach, U., Fay, D., Kinsella, M., McAtamney, C., O'Reilly, F., Rao, S.N., Stobie, N., 2003, Coloured electrochromic paper quality displays based on modified mesoporous electrodes, Solid State Ionics, vol 165, issue 1-4, Elsevier Science BV, Amsterdam Netherlands, pp. 315-321.

Bach, U., Corr, D., Lupo, D., Pichot, F., Ryan, M., 2002, Nanomaterials-based electrochromics for paper-quality displays, Advanced Materials, vol 14, issue 11, Wiley-V C H Verlag GMBH, Weinheim Germany, pp. 845-848.

Plass, R., Pelet, S., Krueger, J., Gratzel, M., Bach, U., 2002, Quantum dot sensitization of organic-inorganic hybrid solar cells, Journal of Physical Chemistry B, vol 106, issue 31, American Chemical Society, Washington DC USA, pp. 7578-7580.

Krueger, J., Plass, R., Cevey, L., Piccirelli, M., Graetzel, M., Bach, U., 2001, High efficiency solid-state photovoltaic device due to inhibition of interface charge recombination, Applied Physics Letters, vol 79, issue 13, American Institute of Physics, Melville USA, pp. 2085-2087.

Conference Proceedings

Fekete, M., Singh, A., Hocking, R., Brimblecombe, R., Chang, L., Bach, U., Patti, A., Swiegers, G., Dismukes, G., Spiccia, L., 2011, Bioinspired water oxidation catalysts for solar hydrogen production, New Trends in Coordination, Bioinorganice, and Applied Inorganic Chemistry, 5 June 2011 to 10 June 2011, Slovak University of Technology Press, Bratislava, pp. 519-535.

Other

Bach, U., Fu, D., 2010, Photovoltaic devices, International.

Grants

Title:
Concepts Towards the Next Generation of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells: Tandem and Plasmonic Solar Cells.
Investigators:
Bach, U
Funding:
(2011 - 2015). Australian Research Council (ARC).
Title:
DNA Directed Nanofabrication - A novel, universal, highly parallel bottom-up assembly approach.
Investigators:
Bach, U
Funding:
(2006 - 2010). Australian Research Council (ARC).
(2006 - 2010). Monash University.
(2007 - 2011). Australian Research Council (ARC).
(2008 - 2012). Australian Research Council (ARC).
Title:
DNA directed Nanofabrication.
Investigators:
Bach, U
Funding:
(2007 - 2011). Molecular Foundry - Lawrence Berkely National Lab.
Title:
Gel-Electrophoresis installation for separating nanoparticel conjagates.
Investigators:
Bach, U
Funding:
(2008 - 2011). Collier Charitable Fund.
Title:
Large Area Printed Electronic Materials: Solar Cells for Life.
Investigators:
Cheng, Y, Bach, U, Spiccia, L
Funding:
(2010 - 2014). Victorian Department of Innovation, Industry & Regional Development (DIIRD).
(2011 - 2015). Victorian Department of Innovation, Industry & Regional Development (DIIRD).
(2012 - 2016). Victorian Department of Innovation, Industry & Regional Development (DIIRD).
Title:
Plasmonics for improved light harvesting in photovoltaic devices.
Investigators:
Bach, U
Funding:
(2010 - 2014). Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.
(2010 - 2014). Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München).
(2010 - 2014). Monash University.
Title:
Third Generation organic photovoltaics: A molecular approach towards a new generation of plastic electronics.
Investigators:
Bach, U
Funding:
(2005 - 2009). Monash University.
Title:
Victorian Organic Solar Cell Consortium (VICOSC).
Investigators:
Macfarlane, D, Bach, U, Cheng, Y
Funding:
(2007 - 2012). Department of Primary Industries, Victoria.
(2007 - 2012). Monash University.
Title:
Ultrafast Dynamics Measurement Facility for the Physical, Biochemical and Materials Sciences.
Investigators:
Kee, T, Monro, T, Abbott, D, Fischer, B, Buntine, M, Metha, G, Carver, J, Beattie, D, Prestidge, C, Lewis, R, Lancaster, D, Bach, U
Funding:
(2009 - 2013). Australian Research Council (ARC).
(2009 - 2013). Monash University.
Title:
Advanced ultrasonic spray deposition system for large area solar cells fabrication.
Investigators:
Holmes, A, Jones, D, Vak, D, Cheng, Y, Bach, U
Funding:
(2010 - 2014). Australian Research Council (ARC).
(2010 - 2014). Monash University.
Title:
Organic Solar Cells Fabrication and Characterisation Facility.
Investigators:
Bach, U, Byrnes, M, Macfarlane, D, Cheng, Y, Wallace, G, Officer, D, Innis, P, Mozer, A, Pringle, J
Funding:
(2008 - 2012). Australian Research Council (ARC).
(2008 - 2012). Monash University.
(2008 - 2012). University of Wollongong.
(2008 - 2013). Australian Research Council (ARC).
(2008 - 2013). Monash University.

Postgraduate Research Supervisions

Completed Supervision

Student:
Daeneke, T.
Program of Study:
Novel redox couples for dye-sensitized solar cells. (PHD) 2012.
Supervisors:
Spiccia, L (Main), Bach, U (Associate).
Student:
Fu, D.
Program of Study:
Back-contact dye-sensitized solar cells. (PHD) 2012.
Supervisors:
Bach, U (Main).
Student:
Lalander, C.
Program of Study:
Templated DNA-directed nanofabrication. (PHD) 2010.
Supervisors:
Bach, U (Main).
Student:
Nattestad, A.
Program of Study:
Development of photocathodes for incorporation into tandem dye sensitised solar cells. (PHD) 2010.
Supervisors:
Bach, U (Joint), Cheng, Y (Joint-Co).
Student:
Zheng, Y.
Program of Study:
Gutenberg-style printing of self-assembled metal nanoparticle arrays: electrostatic nanoparticle immobilisation and DNA-mediated transfer. (PHD) 2011.
Supervisors:
Bach, U (Main).