Civil Engineering students from Estácio College, in Rio Grande do Sul, conducted research on the impact of radiation on solar s and the thermal effects on the surface of flexible solar s indexed to the database of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space istration). In addition, they received medals from the Agency's Artemis program.
The research and preparation of the submitted article were carried out by scientific initiation students Rodrigo Krischke, who graduated at the end of 2023, and Michele Machado, a CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development) scholarship holder.
André Felipe da Silva Guedes, a professor in the Civil Engineering course, supervised the research. The professor is also the PEI (Research, Extension and Internationalization) coordinator at Estácio.
“Receiving the news that the article was indexed in the NASA database made me sure that I am on the right path in stimulating research at the Scientific Initiation level. Sharing knowledge through the article and receiving this recognition of being a reference from NASA, further reinforces my responsibility as a supervisor for the research I carry out with Civil Engineering students”, comments the professor.
Study theme
The students designed and developed flexible organic solar cells for energy conversion with 12% efficiency. In addition, they also measured the thermal effects of solar radiation on the surface of these cells and established the percentage reduction in their useful life.
The main results obtained indicated that the inclusion of an optimized polyaniline layer, called PANI-X1, reduced the effects of degradation resulting from solar exposure. This implied a reduction of only 15% in the cell's useful life.
The document is available on the ADS (Astrophysics Data System), operated by NASA's Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
Michele Machado comments that the university space offers several opportunities for students to get involved with academic and scientific research. “I didn’t imagine that research could advance with major proposals and is now internationally recognized. This shows that every well-placed brick can contribute to great projects”, she comments.
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