NWO M-2 grant for Loredana Protesescu

The Dutch Research Council (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, NWO) has awarded an Open Competition Science-M grant to Dr. Loredana Protesescu of the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials (Faculty of Science and Engineering, UG) and Dr. Shuxia Tao (Eindhoven University of Technology). They will receive an M2 grant of EUR 750,000 for research into antiperovskites and how they can be used for technological applications.

The research project, which will take five years, is titled ‘Nanocrystals: key to exploiting the remarkable properties of antiperovkites.’

Exploiting unique properties

As the material class of perovskites is taking the solar cell world by storm, their cousins the nitride antiperovskites also possess unique properties like superionic conductivity, superconductivity, negative thermal expansion, and luminescence. This makes them highly suitable for nanotechnology applications, such as optoelectronic devices. However, very little is known about their chemistry, stability and how they can be made into electronic devices. This is what Protesescu and Tao will investigate.

Nanocrystals as key

By synthesising nitride antiperovskites as nanocrystals and then stabilising them in colloidal suspensions, the researchers can uncover their electronic and structural properties, optimise their chemical compositions and unravel their properties under working conditions. Based on this, Protesescu and Tao will explore their application possibilities.

NWO Open Competition ENW-M

M grants are intended for innovative and high-quality research with scientific urgency. The grant allows researchers to develop creative and high-risk ideas and realise scientific innovations that can form the basis for the research themes of the future.