About Me

Hi! My name is Pravini Fernando, I am a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Diao Lab under the supervision of Professor Ying Diao, at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA.

I completed my PHD in Physics at the State University of New York, Binghamton, USA under the supervision of Professor Jeffrey M. Mativetsky. I completed my bachelors degree in science from University of Colombo, Sri Lanka specializing in Physics.

Research

My current research work affiliated with Diao Lab focuses on probing chirality induced spin selectivity (CISS) and its impact on opto-electrical properties.

During my PhD, I was a member of the Mativetsky Lab @ SUNY Binghamton where my research focused on investigating the connections between morphology, molecular structure, and orientation of organic photovoltaic (OPV) materials and their impact on electrical connectivity, mainly using grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD) and conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) techniques.

Selected Publications

• Tuning the Solution Aggregate Structure of a PM7-Based Conjugated Polymer to Enable Green Solvent Processing of Organic Solar Cells. By Azzaya Khasbaatar, Austin L. Jones, Pravini S. Fernando, Hiroaki Sai, Chenhui Zhu, Eliot Gann, John R. Reynolds, and Ying Diao. In:ACS Chemical Materials (2024).
• Remarkable Electrical Connectivity in the Acceptor Phase of Y6- and Fullerene-based Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells. By Pravini S. Fernando, and Jeffrey M. Mativetsky. In: ACS Applied Energy Materials (2023).
• Unambiguous Measurement of Local Hole Current in Organic Semiconductors Using Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy. By Pravini S. Fernando and Jeffrey M. Mativetsky. In: The Journal of Physical Chemistry C (2023).
• Mixed molecular orientations promote charge transport in bulk heterojunction solar cells. By Pravini S. Fernando, Detlef-M. Smilgies, and Jeffrey M. Mativetsky. In: Chemical Communications (2022).
• Probing the Contribution of Lateral Pathways to Out-of-Plane Charge Transport in Organic Bulk Heterojunctions. By Pravini S. Fernando, Jeremy S. Mehta, Detlef-M. Smilgies, and Jeffrey M. Mativetsky. In: Advanced Electronic Materials (2022).
• Freeing Organic Semiconductor Nanowires from Nanoporous Aluminum Oxide Templates: Effects on Morphology, Crystal Structure, and Molecular Aggregation by Alexander M. Haruk, Pravini S. Fernando, Detlef-M. Smilgies, Jeffrey M. Mativetsky. In: Crystal Growth Design (2021).
• Tuning Organic Semiconductor Alignment and Aggregation via Nanoconfinement by Alexander M. Haruk, Collen Z. Leng, Pravini S. Fernando, Detlef-M. Smilgies,Yueh-Lin Loo, Jeffrey M. Mativetsky. In: The Journal of Physical Chemistry C (2020).
• Colocalized nanoscale electrical and compositional mapping of organic solar cells by Jeremy S. Mehta, Pravini S. Fernando, John L. Grazul, Jeffrey M. Mativetsky. In: ACS Applied Energy Materials (2019).

Education

• PhD. Physics, State University of New York(SUNY) Binghamton. (Fall 2017 - Fall 2023)
• Bsc. Special Degree in Physics(First Class Hons.), University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. (2017)
• GCE Advance Levels(A/Ls), Visakha Vidayala, Colombo-05, Sri Lanka. (2009-2011)
• GCE Ordinary Levels(O/Ls), Holy Family Convent, Colombo-04, Sri Lanka. (1998-2008)

Awards and Scholarships

1. Harpur First Year Graduate Award, SUNY Binghamton. (2017)
2. Dr. C. A. Hewawitharana memorial prize for Physics. (2017)
3. Gulamhusein A.J. Noorbhai prize for Physics Research. (2017)
4. Joseph Nalliah Arumugum memorial prize for Highest Academic Competence in Faculty of Science, University of Colombo. (2017)
5. Mailvaganam memorial prize for Physics. (2017)

Experience

• Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA. (Fall 2023 - present)
• Graduate Teaching/Research Assistant (Physics), Harpur College, SUNY Binghamton. (Fall 2017 - Fall 2023)
• Temporary Lecturer, Department of Physics, University of Colombo. (2017)