Jacques-Edouard Moser

Jacques-E. Moser
Born	(1958-06-23) 23 June 1958 (age 68) in Yverdon-les-Bains
Citizenship	Swiss, from Röthenbach im Emmental
Education	École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Known for	Research on the dynamics of photoinduced electron transfer and charge separation in emergent photovoltaics
Scientific career
Fields	Physical chemistry, femtochemistry, photochemistry, photovoltaics
Workplaces	École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Eastman Kodak

Jacques-Edouard Moser (born 23 June 1958) is a Swiss physical chemist and professor emeritus at the School of Basic Sciences of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland. He is best known for his research on the dynamics of photoinduced electron transfer and charge separation in systems for solar energy conversion.

Education

Moser studied chemical engineering at EPFL. He received his diploma (MSc) in 1982 and earned his PhD in physical chemistry in 1986 under the supervision of Michael Grätzel.

Career and research

Moser conducted postdoctoral research at the Eastman Kodak Corporate Research Laboratories in Rochester (NY) from 1986 to 1988. Back to EPFL, he was appointed a lecturer and established a research group in photochemistry in 1992. He was awarded the habilitation and the venia legendi in 1998. In 2005, he became a titular professor and head of the Photochemical Dynamics Group at the Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering.

Following his retirement in 2023, Jacques-E. Moser became professor emeritus at the School of Basic Sciences.

From 1995 to 1998, Moser was president of the Swiss Society of Photochemistry and Photophysics (SGPP) and from 2005 to 2012 a member of the executive board of the Swiss Chemical Society (SCG). He served as director of the Section of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of EPFL from 2007 to 2015. He is currently a member of the advisory editorial board of the journal Chemical Physics Letters and of the Committee of the Société vaudoise des sciences naturelles (SVSN).

His work has addressed charge generation, transfer and recombination kinetics in different materials using time-resolved spectroscopic techniques. The systems investigated include dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs), polymer- and small-molecule-based organic photovoltaics (OPV), and hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite solar cells.

Jacques-E. Moser has collaborated extensively with Michael Grätzel at EPFL, contributing time-resolved investigations and landmark joint publications. The latter include in particular a 1985 paper in the Journal of the American Chemical Society reporting the first mesoporous dye-senitized solar cell, a 1998 paper in Nature that reported high photon-to-electron conversion efficiency in solid-state DSCs, and a 2012 paper in Scientific Reports describing the first all-solid-state lead iodide perovskite solar cell.

His research group developed specific investigation methods, such as ultrafast diffuse reflectance, time-resolved electro-absorption, ultrabroadband THz, and optical pump/IR push/THz probe spectroscopies to address important scientific questions related to photonic materials and systems close to working conditions.

His later research examined charge-transfer states and exciton dissociation in two-dimensional perovskites and quantum-confined semiconductor nanoplatelets.

Awards and honours

In 1988, Moser received the Latsis University Prize for his early work in photochemistry and charge-transfer dynamics. In 2015, EPFL awarded him the Medal of Excellence in Teaching for his commitment to education in general chemistry and photochemistry. In 2023, he was conferred the title of honorary professor of EPFL.

Selected publications

• Moser, J.; Grätzel, M. (1984). "Photosensitized electron injection in colloidal semiconductors". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 106 (22): 6557–6564. doi:10.1021/ja00334a017.

• Desilvestro, J.; Grätzel, M.; Kavan, L.; Moser, J.; Augustynski, J. (1985). "Highly efficient sensitization of titanium dioxide". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 107 (10): 2988–2990. doi:10.1021/ja00296a035.

• Gould, I. R.; Ege, D.; Moser, J. E.; Farid, S. (1990). "Efficiencies of photoinduced electron-transfer reactions: Role of the Marcus inverted region in return electron transfer within geminate radical-ion pairs". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 112 (11): 4290–4301. doi:10.1021/ja00167a027.

• Marchioro, A.; Teuscher, J.; Friederich, D.; Kunst, M.; Van de Kroll, R.; Moehl, T.; Grätzel, M.; Moser, J.-E. (2014). "Unravelling the mechanism of photoinduced charge transfer processes in lead iodide perovskite solar cells". Nature Photonics. 8: 250–255. doi:10.1038/nphoton.2013.374.

• Moser, Jacques-E. (2010). "Dynamics of interfacial and surface electron transfer processes". In Kalyanasundaram, Kuppuswamy (ed.). Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells. Lausanne: EPFL Press. pp. 403–456.

References