Prof. Gianmarco GRIFFINI
Position
Associate Professor at Politecnico di MilanoEntity:
Politecnico di Milano (PoliMi)Country:
ItalySession:
S4: Recycling of PESpeech by Prof. Gianmarco Griffini
Theme: Polymers for light management: harnessing multifunctionality for enhanced performance
| Gianmarco Griffini is an Associate Professor of Materials Science and Technology at the Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering “Giulio Natta” of Politecnico di Milano (Italy). He received his MSc degree in Chemical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano in 2005 and his PhD degree in Materials Engineering from the same institution in 2012, after spending a few years in the private sector working as process engineer. He has held visiting positions at University College London (UK), at University of California at Berkeley (USA), and at University of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain). His research interests are mainly focused on the design, synthesis and characterisation of polymer-based materials and on the study of their structure-property relationships. Areas of major effort include: bio-derived and biodegradable polymers and composites for sustainable manufacturing; materials and devices for solar energy harvesting, management and conversion, and for energy storage; stimuli-responsive polymeric materials for smart, advanced manufacturing. In these areas, he is/has been involved as scientific coordinator in several regional, national and European funded projects, and as responsible for different research contracts with the private sector. He currently serves as editorial board member of the journal Aggregate (Wiley). |
Abstract
| In the plethora of solar energy technologies, luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) represent a particularly interesting concept for sunlight harvesting, management and conversion, with great potential to enable the penetration of photovoltaic systems in the built environment as well as in some niche market segments where lightness, shape versatility and color tunability may represent important assets. In such devices, incident photons are absorbed and re-emitted by luminophore species embedded in a waveguide, and transported by total internal reflection towards solar cells for the light-to-electricity conversion. Together with device efficiency, the operational durability of LSCs in outdoor conditions and their ability to retain functionality upon prolonged use are key aspects to be considered for their widespread adoption. Notably, harsh weather phenomena and mechanical damages are only few of the many external factors that can negatively affect device functioning in real-life operation, widening the gap for their eventual commercialisation. In this context, the large compositional flexibility of polymeric materials as well as their proven easy processability may be of great help in imparting improved durability and in extending the life cycle of LSCs. In particular, multifunctional polymeric systems providing tunable response as a result of tailored chemical functionalisation and modification constitute a particularly interesting platform for securing enhanced and sustained device performance in different operating conditions. In this contribution, we will present some recent strategies to obtain multifunctional polymers for application in LSC devices with high performance and prolonged durability, focusing on materials exhibiting self-healing response, (super)hydrophobic/oleophobic characteristics and antifogging/frost-resisting behavior. We will show how these approaches can be implemented to adequately suppress the effects of detrimental external agents and preserve the performance of LSC devices in conditions mimicking real-life operation. By introducing their use as light harvesting, management and conversion systems for LSCs, we will discuss our view on the essential role played by these advanced multifunctional polymers in increasing the sustainability of energy conversion technologies through extended device life cycle. |