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The professor at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) is the author of many patented inventions, the licenses of which have been acquired by companies operating in various countries around the world. He is convinced that teamwork as a team and the experience of each member of the group are of particular importance in conducting such research.
“It is impossible to learn all the secrets of ‘cooking’ in a short time. Here, as at home, a delicious lunch will be necessary to cook in a foreign kitchen. It is necessary to know who has been helped, where, in what order to organize and carry out the experiment ”, says V. Getautis.
According to the teacher, team members working in harmony can understand each other with a brief comment or even a glance. In addition, it is important that everyone comes to the laboratory with enthusiasm and desire to achieve significant results, then the work done will allow us to be proud of our achievements.
– How did chemistry interest you? Where did your work in this area begin?
– Everything went just as well in school, but I preferred science. When it was necessary to choose a higher school, I had no doubt that it would be the Kaunas Polytechnic Institute (now Kaunas University of Technology). The Faculty of Chemical Technology, which was studying there at the time, was invited to choose the Faculty of Chemical Technology, with whom we played in the Skaudvilė (Tauragė district) high school orchestra. However, a deeper interest in chemistry led to acquaintances with a very strong personality: Bright Memory professor Stasys Kutkevičius. In the first year, I was led to the research group that I was leading by the professor’s daughter, with whom we studied in a group. He spent a lot of time on the “green” chemist, and thus, little by little, he entered the world of science full of mysteries. That’s where it all started.
– What fits the word “chemistry”? What fascinates you about him?
– There is no area of human activity that does not involve chemical reactions or the resulting substances. This is an area of science where discoveries happen almost every day. It’s the diversity, the surprises, the opportunity to create a new product fairly quickly, and sometimes not even what I expected, that is fascinating.
– Why did you choose the path of a scientist?
– As I spent most of my free time in a research laboratory while studying, it was not difficult to decide the future after graduation – I entered the postgraduate program (equivalent to the current doctoral program), which under the supervision of prof. S. Kutkevičius, I finished successfully. This period was very dynamic, full of challenges: in three years it was necessary to carry out all the planned experiments, write a thesis and defend it. However, this further strengthened my choice and desire to continue on this path.
– You are the author of many patented inventions. How are ideas for new inventions born? What is most important in this process?
– The ideas of new inventions are born in very different ways. In chemistry, it’s sometimes an unexpected twist on a planned experiment when you don’t get what you hoped for at all. After learning what happened, it turns out that it has not been described anywhere, has not been published and has practical application.
However, most of the ideas come from specific projects. For example, the contract with the South Korean company Samsung Electronics established a specific number of international patents. I had to study a lot of scientific literature to understand what has already been done in a particular field.
The ideas emerge from discussions with colleagues at seminars and conferences of scientific groups. I joke with my PhD students that they have to come back from every lecture with a new idea. It will not necessarily become an invention, but it will certainly encourage progress towards it. For me, thoughts come together very well while running, so sometimes the idea of an invention also comes up in a stadium.
– How important is the equipment to you in your research? What does it take for the team to be effective and for the work done to be a source of pride?
– A cohesive team is very important in the investigation. Ideally, all members of the group have followed a similar path to mine, that is, they have been initiating research in a scientific laboratory since the first year of studies. This is necessary because it is not possible to learn all the secrets of “cooking” in a short period of time in this area. Here, like at home, a delicious lunch will be necessary to cook in a foreign kitchen. It is necessary to know who helped where, how to organize and carry out the experiment. At first, even washing chemical dishes properly without the help of an older colleague won’t be easy.
Meanwhile, coworkers can understand each other with a brief comment or even a glance. The team leader needs to know each member of his team well, assign tasks that suit the qualifications of each person. But the most important thing is to interest the young researcher so that the work does not become routine. We need to make sure everyone goes to the lab willingly. Then the team activities will be effective and the work done will allow you to enjoy the results.
– Has been working with the team for many years to make solar energy cheaper and more efficient. In collaboration with physicists at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Research Institute in Berlin, he set a record this year: the solar cell he creates converts 29.15 percent of electricity. Light incident. How important is this achievement?
– Firstly, it is the highest efficiency silicon perovskite tandem solar cell in the world. This solar cell is built by combining technologies that are already well known in the market and a new generation of solar cells. In it, the two components complement each other. The silicon element perfectly absorbs infrared electromagnetic radiation, while the perovskite element is visible. In the end, the overall efficiency is obtained, which is greater than the efficiency of the individual component.
The self-contained organic semiconductors we offer are inexpensive. They cover the solar cell’s electrode with a thin molecular layer, a few nanometers thick, that consumes a very small amount of material. We have calculated that 1 g of this semiconductor can cover an area of 1000 m². It is also very important that the development of silicon-perovskite tandem solar cells utilizes the existing production capacity of silicon solar cells, so the company will not need a significant additional investment.
– The first license for the present invention was acquired by the Japanese company Tokyo Chemical Industry Co. Ltd. “. Are you still interested in your invention?
– The organic semiconductors that we developed were the first to be commercialized by the Japanese after obtaining a patent license. However, the demand for these compounds was so high in the first year that the Swedish company Dyenamo AB took an interest in them. Negotiations have been ongoing for some time, successfully led by Greta Žėkienė, Project Manager for Intellectual Property Management at KTU’s National Center for Business and Innovation. These days the news has reached us that Dyenamo has purchased our patent license.
– In which direction are you continuing your research on solar cells? What goals do you propose?
– Until now, we have paid more attention to p-type organic semiconductors. It was with this type of self-assembled molecules that the above results were achieved. There are several layers in the solar cell between the electrodes that perform different functions. Therefore, in addition to p-type semiconductors, n-type electron carriers are also required. Therefore, our goal is to develop n-type self-assembled organic semiconductors, which would allow us to abandon traditional layer fabrication technologies and, together with the already discovered p-type semiconductors, would be used to build even more efficient solar cells.
– You mentioned that perovskite tandem elements are the future of solar energy. Why? What is the potential of solar energy in general?
– The potential of solar energy is enormous. Of the renewable energy sources, the Sun has the highest energy. The energy that reaches the surface of the Earth in one hour is equivalent to the annual need of humanity. However, it is solar energy that is still the least used for these needs compared to other renewable energy sources.
It is true that this is the fastest growing technology in this area. This feels perfectly in Lithuania, as well as in our university. Suffice it to mention the last 5.5 thousand on the roof of the KTU Faculty of Electricity and Electronics. the emergence of a square meter solar power park. Silicon solar cells on the market have long been installed here, the efficiency limits of which have already been reached (18-20%). Meanwhile, tandem items, which are expected to hit the market next summer, should outnumber them by a very large amount (around 28%).
– It is for achieving the world record for solar cell efficiency using self-assembled organic molecules, this year you have been nominated in the “Discovery of the Year” category of the LRT of the Year Awards. Is this evaluation important to you?
– Of course how cute. The same entry among the three nominees is already a recognition of the research results of our entire team. At the same time, it shows that KTU conducts high-level research. Plus, it’s a great green energy ad.
– What do you think is the greatest of your personal achievements in chemistry?
– Personally, the most expensive for me is the first invention, which is owned by KTU together with the Federal Polytechnic University of Lausanne. This is the first semiconductor encoded V-886 to be successfully marketed five years ago in our research group. Until then, many of our inventions were owned by well-known foreign companies, such as Samsung Electronics (South Korea), Imation (USA), BASF SE (Germany), Trinamix (Germany), where these companies carried out research. by order. And the most significant achievement of our group is the latter, which was nominated in the “Discovery of the Year” category of the LRT of the Year Awards.
– The article of the KTU researchers, whose authors, you, Artiomas Magomedovas, Tadas Malinauskas and Ernestas Kasparavičius, was accepted by the world famous scientific journal Science. What article will be published in it? How important is that achievement?
– We have already received confirmation that an article publishing a record of the efficiency of a tandem solar cell has been accepted in the journal Science. We have sent proof to the editorial staff, which means the article adoption process has been completed successfully. We also know the tentative date of the issue of the journal Science, in which the article will be published, which is December 4. For us, this event is perhaps even more significant than the recognition of an invention through a patent or the sale of a license, because every scientist has a dream and a desire to publish the results of their research in this prestigious journal.
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