Gabriel Graf
- DUKE UNIVERSITY
Project Summary:
Gabriel plans to use computational methods to study the intermediate phases that form during the nucleation and growth of hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites.
Duke Supervisor: Volker Blum
IRES Supervisor: Eva Unger
Biography:
Gabriel is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. He is a research associate in the Ab Initio Materials Simulations (AIMS) Group, led by Professor Volker Blum, where he employs first-principles computational methods to investigate the electronic structure and thermodynamic properties of hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites. His research connects the electronic nature of materials with their macroscopic properties, with applications in next-generation solar cells, spintronics, and energy-efficient electronics.
As part of the IRES: Perovskites program, Gabriel is currently hosted at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin in the Department of Solution Processing of Hybrid Materials and Devices (SEALM), led by Professor Eva Unger. There, he is investigating the intermediate phases that form during the nucleation and growth of solution-processed hybrid perovskites. A thorough understanding of the associated mechanisms and potential intermediates will enable precise control over nucleation and growth kinetics, thus fulfilling a critical step toward scalable, low cost fabrication of high-quality photovoltaic devices. Gabriel holds a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry with a minor in Mathematics from Austin College in Sherman, Texas. His background in both synthetic and computational chemistry complements his current work on perovskite nucleation and growth. He is also a fellow in Duke’s AI + Materials National Research Traineeship (aiM-NRT), where he explores the integration of artificial intelligence in materials discovery. In addition to his research, Gabriel has served as a tutor, teaching assistant, and research mentor in chemistry, mathematics, and scientific computing.