Meet the Team

Prof. Paola Vivo

Professor of Material Chemistry, specifically Solar Driven Chemistry

I believe in the enormous potential of solar energy to solve some of the biggest challenges of our times, i.e. climate change and the rapid decrease in energy resources. I want to contribute to the world research on the next-generation solar cells by exploring novel materials and device architectures for efficient, stable, and nontoxic photovoltaics. Our research at the Hybrid Solar Cells team (HSC) aims at developing low-cost and eco-friendly materials in bulk and nanocrystals for photovoltaic applications. In particular, we design and synthesize solution-processable organic semiconductors and hybrid organic-inorganic halide perovskites. Finally, we optimize materials and device architectures to enable high-performing and stable solar cells with reduced toxicity.

paola.vivo@tuni.fi ⋅ Paola Vivo (0000-0003-2872-6922) – ORCID

Murthy Grandhi

murthy.grandhi@tuni.fi

Joshua Karlsson

Postdoctoral Research fellow

joshua.karlsson@tuni.fi ⋅ Joshua Karl Gunnar Karlsson (0000-0001-7281-1257) – ORCID

I joined Tampere University having been awarded a research fellowship by the Tampere Institute for Advanced Study as the first step in establishing an independent research direction. My current research project carries the title: “Controlling the Photostability of Next Generation Solar Cells”, where the objective is to understand fundamental photochemical processes leading to photodegradation of light-absorbing materials in next-generation solar cell technologies (dye-sensitised solar cells, organic photovoltaics and perovskite solar cells).

Research interests: physical chemistry, molecular photophysics, photochemistry, optical spectroscopy, organic dyes, microscopy, bio-imaging, solar cells, solar fuels, photodegradation/photostabilisation.

Skills: Absorption/fluorescence spectroscopy, time-resolved optical spectroscopy including time-correlated single photon counting, laser flash photolysis and ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, gas/liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, electrochemistry.

Other interests: Theatre, music and various mechanical projects

Krishnaiah Mokurala

Marie Curie Postdoctoral Researcher

krishnaiah.mokurala@tuni.fi ⋅ Dr Krishnaiah Mokurala (0000-0001-9258-2607) – ORCID

Current Research :

Self powered NIR photodetector for wearable health care applications.
Lead free perovskite inspired materials for indoor and outdoor photovoltaic applications.

Akhil Alexander

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

akhil.alexander@tuni.fi ⋅ Akhil Alexander (0000-0003-4528-4134) – ORCID

Current Research :

Perovskite inspired materials for photovoltaic applications.
Charge carrier transport and recombination dynamics of photovoltaic devices.

Tuhin Samanta

Tuhin

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

tuhin.samanta@tuni.fi Tuhin Samanta (0000-0003-0746-349x) – ORCID

Current Research :

Silicon-Perovskite tandem solar cell.
Lead-free, perovskite inspired metal halide solar absorbers.

Basheer Al-Anesi

Doctoral Researcher

basheer.al-anesi@tuni.fi ⋅ Basheer Al-Anesi (0000-0001-8347-9309) – ORCID

Paavo Mäkinen

Doctoral Researcher

paavo.makinen@tuni.fi ⋅ Paavo Mäkinen (0000-0002-3113-1682) – ORCID

Noora Lamminen

Doctoral Researcher

noora.lamminen@tuni.fi ⋅ Noora Lamminen (0000-0001-7655-5676) – ORCID

Sami Toikkonen

Doctoral Researcher

sami.toikkonen@tuni.fi ⋅ Sami Toikkonen (0000-0002-3274-8879) – ORCID

About me

Bachelor’s degree completed in spring 2020: thesis about flexible perovskite solar cells
Master’s degree completed in spring 2023: thesis about lead-free perovskite-inspired solar cells and indoor photovoltaics
Doctoral research started in autumn 2023: working title for dissertation ‘Perovskite-based indoor photovoltaics’

Research interests: Perovskites, perovskite-inspired materials, solar cells, indoor photovoltaics

Skills: Solar cell fabrication and characterization (1-Sun, indoor, quantum efficiency), X-ray diffraction

Other interests: video games, music

Ville Holappa

Doctoral Researcher at VTT ⋅ Ville Holappa (0000-0002-0809-4596) – ORCID

Eetu Karpiola

Doctoral Researcher

eetu.karpiola@tuni.fi

Milan Saju

Milan

Doctoral Researcher (Marie Curie)

milan.saju@tuni.fi Milan Saju (0009-0004-6346-9276) – ORCID

I hold a Master’s degree in Physical Chemistry from Mahatma Gandhi University, India. Following my postgraduate studies, I worked as a Project Assistant at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, where I also completed my Master’s thesis research on colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals, focusing on their synthesis, characterization, and optoelectronic applications. Currently, my research centers on the development of inorganic charge transport materials for indoor photovoltaic devices.

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Group leader

Prof. Paola Vivo

Senior Research Fellow

Murthy Grandhi

Postdoctoral Researchers

Joshua Karlsson

Krishnaiah Mokurala

Akhil Alexander

Tuhin Samanta

Doctoral Researchers

Basheer Al-Anesi

Paavo Mäkinen

Noora Lamminen

Sami Toikkonen

Ville Holappa

Eetu Karpiola

Milan Saju

Reem Khanfar

Researchers

Jussi Lahtinen

Bidyashakti Dash

Alumni