Michael Grätzel (Dorfchemnitz, 1944) is one of the most important chemistry researchers of our time, having already been considered as potential Nobel Prize winner in his area. Michael Grätzel will be distinguished with the title of Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Porto, by proposal of the Faculty of Engineering of the U.Porto (FEUP), on the 20th of May, at 10:00 am, in the Salão Nobre da Reitoria.
Swiss by nationality, but of German descent, he was a pioneer in the field of photovoltaic technology by inventing the dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC), also known as “Grätzel cells”, from which the perovskite solar cells (PSC) emerged, in whose development Michael Grätzel also had a decisive role. This new generation of cells has a low cost, very high energy efficiency, and great versatility in terms of appearance – colour and transparency – but also voltage; in tandem arrangement it can reach an efficiency of ca. 30 %.
Professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, where he directs the Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces (LPI), Michael Grätzel has been awarded numerous distinctions of scientific excellence. He has published about 1700 scientific papers, has more than 320 000 citations and an h-index of 254 (Web of Science). He was also visiting Professor at several internationally renowned institutions, such as the University of California at Berkeley or the École Polytechnique Supérieure de Paris-Cachan, and has been collaborating regularly with the University of Porto, in particular with the Faculty of Engineering (FEUP), in highly prestigious European research projects and in supporting PhD students.
Michael Grätzel maintains, since 2007, a close collaboration with Adélio Mendes, professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering and researcher at LEPABE, with whom he is co-author of the first patent for laser assisted glass sealing of DSSCs. This pioneer technology was sold for 5 million Euros to Dyesol (today GreatCell Solar Limited), an Australian company. In the scope of the PhD Honoris Causa, but already in the afternoon, a lecture is scheduled at the Engineering Faculty, given by Michael Grätzel himself, in the Auditorium, starting at 16h00.