Welcome to the Organic Energy Materials Research Group
Led by Associate Professor Audun Formo Buene, our group at NTNU develops innovative organic compounds for energy applications. Using creative organic synthesis, we engineer molecules to advance renewable energy technologies.
Research Focus
Our work centers on:
Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC): Designing organic dye molecules for solar energy conversion.
Synthetic photoelectrochemistry: Developing catalyst molecules that combine the powers of photo- and electrochemistry.
We also lead the FramSki project, aiming to create the world’s fastest fluorine-free cross-country ski. Our group contributes scientifically by optimizing friction at the nanoscale through surface modification of polyethylene.
We are open to partnerships across academia and industry. Whether in renewable energy, organic synthesis, or sports technology, we welcome collaborations to drive innovation and solve global challenges.
Join us in shaping the future of energy and sustainable technology!
Research
Our research group uses synthetic organic chemistry as the main tool for our research, which is mostly centered around molecules for energy and skiing applications.
Synthesis and characterization of dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells
Dye-sensitized solar cells are a type of photovoltaic device where organic dye molecules harvest light and convert it into electrical current. These devices are particularly promising under low-light and indoor conditions. Our research focuses on improving DSSC performance through molecular engineering of dye molecules. Recently, we have been working to enhance light-harvesting properties and minimize issues such as dye aggregation, which can reduce efficiency.
Molecular engineering of ski-snow friction
Skiing is both a highly competitive sport and a popular recreational activity. For many years, fluorinated compounds were essential for achieving optimal ski glide, but due to their environmental impact, they are now banned. In the FramSki innovation project, we study ski gliding friction on macro-, micro-, and nanoscales. Our group focuses on fluorine-free chemical modifications of ski bases to optimize ski-snow friction, aiming for the best performance across various snow conditions.
Synthetic Molecular Photoelectrochemistry
The newest area of research in our group joins the powers of electrochemistry and photochemistry. Through a sequential electrochemical oxidation/reduction followed by photochemical excitation, superoxidants/-reducing agents may be generated. These may in turn activate very non-reactive molecules for further funtionalization. The current activty focus on the development of robust catalysts.
People
Dr. Audun Formo Buene
Audun is an Associate Professor at the Department of Chemistry, NTNU. He earned his MSc in Industrial Chemistry and Biotechnology in 2015, specializing in organic chemistry. His Master's work, supervised by Prof. Bård Helge Hoff, focused on synthesizing small-molecule inhibitors for cancer therapy. He pursued a PhD in Prof. Hoff's group, developing research on dye-sensitized solar cells. As a guest PhD student, Audun spent one semester in Prof. Anders Hagfeldt's group at EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland and he defended his PhD thesis in 2019. Following a postdoctoral offer from Nankai University (cancelled due to COVID-19), Audun took up a postdoctoral position (2020–2023) at NTNU’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, working in Prof. Alex Klein-Paste's lab on the ski-snow interface and friction.
In 2023, he joined NTNU's Department of Materials Science and Engineering as an Assistant Professor, teaching thermodynamics, before establishing his own research group at the Department of Chemistry in 2024.
Audun is passionate about the outdoors and enjoys skiing, whitewater kayaking and biking.
PhD Students
Silje Iren Strøm
Silje is an organic chemist with a MSc degree from NTNU on medicinal chemistry in the group of Prof. Bård H. Hoff. She started her PhD in the group in 2024 and is working on the mystical interface of skis on snow. The ultimate goal of Siljes project is tailored surface funtionalization of polyethylene to modify sliding friction of skis on snow. Silje's PhD project is part of the larger research project FramSki.
When she's not in the lab or thinking about chemistry, Silje enjoys hiking.
Master's and Bachelor Students
Cathrine Bjelland Berg
Cathrine's master project focus on fluorine-free additives for polyethylene-based ski waxes. Her explorative project will expand the chemical space of additives to gain a better understanding of functional groups' effect on ski-snow friction.
Erling Løklingholm Leivestad
Erling works on synthesis of dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells. His focus is to manage intermolecular dye-dye interactions through side chain engineering.
Synnøve Storstein
Synnøve's project is also on dye-sensitized solar cells, and focus on co-sensitization of dyes to better cover various indoor illumination spectra, such as fluorescent and LED.
Kaj van der Pal
Kaj's an internship student from Leiden in The Netherlands working in the group for 9 months. His project focus on development of molecular organic catalysts for synthetic photoelectrochemistry.
Alumni
Sondre Bergtun Auganæs, PhD (2024)
Jonas Hommen Andersen, MSc (2024)
News
FramSki project in national media
The Norwegian national broadcaster NRK visited us in the lab to talk about the FramSki project. Interviews with Audun went out on radio, TV and online newspaper.
Kaj van der Pal has joined the research group. He's an internship student from Leiden University of Applied Sciences and is staying in Trondheim until May 2025. Kaj will work on synthesis of catalyst molecules for Electrophotocatalysis. Welcome!
02.09.2024
Congratulations to Dr. Sondre B. Auganæs!
Sondre defended his PhD at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering on the topic of Laboratory Friction Testing of Cross-Country Skis Experimental Investigation of Ski Design Parameters Effect on Friction. His work lay the foundations for the ongoing FramSki research project, led by the OEM group. Alex Klein-Paste was his supervisor and Audun Formo Buene his co-supervisor.
30.08.2024
New students in the lab
Welcome to Synnøve, Erling and Cathrine. All three are master's students in the MTKJ program. Erling and Synnøve will work on dye-sensitized solar cells while Cathrine will tackle fluorine-free additives for ski wax.
26.08.2024
Welcome to Silje - the group's first PhD student!
Silje has been hired as a PhD student on the FramSki project. Together with two other PhD students she will be working on the exciting interface of skis on snow and how we may modify the sliding friction. More specifically, Silje will work on fluorine-free covalent functionalization of the polyethylene ski base. The FramSki project has Swix, Madshus and Olympiatoppen as business partners and sponsors, so hopefully Siljes research will ensure many future gold medals in skiing disciplines! Welcome, Silje!
19.08.2024
New laboratory for organic synthesis
We have finally been given lab D2-152 for our synthesis activities. It has seen little activity in recent years, so during the spring it has been cleaned and made ready for activity in August.
01.07.2024
Lab Equipment
The research group is running a laboratory dedicated to organic synthesis. We also have equipment for fabrication and characterization of solar cells, an electrochemical workstation and equipment for photophysical analyses.
Organic Chemistry
We have access to modern facilities for synthesis and characterization of highly specialized molecules. This includes microwave chemistry, photochemistry, flow chemistry in addition to conventional batch synthesis. For characterization, in addition to all the regular spectroscopy techniques we have the FS5 Spectrofluorometer and LC-MS/MS with high-resolution power (Q-TOF).
Photovoltaic devices
Fabrication
Solar cells are fabricated through screen printing or doctorblading titanium dioxide paste on fluorine-doped tin oxide coated glass. It is fired in a programmable furnace. Counter electrodes can be manufactured by dropcasting a thin layer of platinic acid, or by electrodeposition-polymerization of PEDOT. Solar cell devices are assembled and sealed in a drybox under controlled heating and electrolyte is filled by vacuum backfilling.
Characterization
The lab is equipped with two AM1.5 G solar simulators for device characterization under simulated sunlight. We also have a setup to measure Incident Photon to Current Conversion Efficiency (IPCE).
Electrochemistry
We have a Versastat 3 electrochemistry workstation, and can perform electrochemical experiments on solutions and on adsorbed species. In addition to conventional electrochemical experiments the setup is also able to perform impedence measurements.
S. B. Auganæs, A. F. Buene, A. Klein-Paste
Experimental investigation into the effect of macroscopic cross-country ski parameters on gliding friction Cold Regions Science and Technology
2023
S. B. Auganæs, A. F. Buene, A. Klein-Paste
The effect of load and binding position on the friction of cross-country skis Cold Regions Science and Technology
L. Jakobsen, S. B. Auganaes, A. F. Buene, I. M. Sivebaek, A. Klein-Paste
Dynamic and static friction measurements of elastomer footwear blocks on ice surface Tribology International
E. A. Strømsodd, A. F. Buene, D. M. Almenningen, O. R. Gautun, B. H. Hoff
Strategies for successful Suzuki-Miyaura cross-couplings with thienylboronic acids: From model studies to dye structures Dyes and Pigments
2022
D. M. Almenningen, H. E. Hansen, A. F. Buene, B. H. Hoff, O. R. Gautun
Effect of seven different terthiophene π-spacers on dye performance in dye-sensitized solar cells Dyes and Pigments
A. F. Buene, S. B. Auganæs, A. Klein-Paste
Effect of Polydimethylsiloxane Oil Lubrication on the Friction of Cross-Country UHMWPE Ski Bases on Snow Frontiers in Sports and Active Living
D. M. Almenningen, V. M. Engh, E. A. Strømsodd, H. E. Hansen, A. F. Buene, B. H. Hoff, O. R. Gautun
Synthetic efforts to investigate the effect of planarizing the triarylamine geometry in dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells ACS Omega
D. M. Almenningen, B. S. Haga, H. E. Hansen, A. F. Buene, B. H. Hoff, O. R. Gautun
Adamantyl Side‐Chains as Anti‐aggregating Moieties in Dyes for Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells Chemistry–A European Journal
S. B. Auganæs, A. F. Buene*, A. Klein-Paste
Laboratory testing of cross-country skis–Investigating tribometer precision on laboratory-grown dendritic snow Tribology International
2021
D. M. Almenningen, H. E. Hansen, M. F. Vold, A. F. Buene, V. Venkatraman, S. Sunde, B. H. Hoff, O. R. Gautun
Effect of thiophene-based π-spacers on N-arylphenothiazine dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells Dyes and Pigments
A. F. Buene*, D. M. Almenningen
Phenothiazine and phenoxazine sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells–an investigative review of two complete dye classes Journal of Materials Chemistry C
2020
A. F. Buene, D. M. Almenningen, A. Hagfeldt, O. R. Gautun, B. H. Hoff
First report of chenodeoxycholic acid–substituted dyes improving the dye monolayer quality in dye‐sensitized solar cells Solar RRL
2019
A. F. Buene, M. Christensen, B. H. Hoff
Effect of auxiliary donors on 3, 8-phenothiazine dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells Molecules
A. F. Buene, A. Hagfeldt, B. H. Hoff
A comprehensive experimental study of five fundamental phenothiazine geometries increasing the diversity of the phenothiazine dye class for dye-sensitized solar cells Dyes and Pigments
A. F. Buene, E. E. Ose, A. G. Zakariassen, A. Hagfeldt, B. H. Hoff
Auxiliary donors for phenothiazine sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells–how important are they really? Journal of Materials Chemistry A
A. F. Buene, N. Boholm, A. Hagfeldt, B. H. Hoff
Effect of furan π-spacer and triethylene oxide methyl ether substituents on performance of phenothiazine sensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells New Journal of Chemistry
2018
A. F. Buene, N. Uggerud, S. P. Economopoulos, O. R. Gautun, B. H. Hoff
Effect of π-linkers on phenothiazine sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells Dyes and Pigments
Opportunities
All funded positions are advertised through Jobbnorge. We also welcome applications from exceptional students with their own funding who are interested in pursuing a PhD or Postdoc with us. If you are considering applying for a funding scheme, feel free to contact us for guidance. Trondheim is a beautiful city with plenty of possibilities for outdoor activities in addition to academic opportunities.
Exchange students
We welcome exchange students seeking internships or research placements as part of their degree. Opportunities are available through programs like Erasmus+ or bilateral agreements with NTNU. Projects will align with our ongoing research and can be tailored to your interests and duration. For eligibility, see NTNU Echange student information. If interested, please contact Audun.
Master's students
NTNU offers two Master’s programs in organic chemistry: the five-year integrated Master’s program in Industrial Chemistry and Biotechnology (MTKJ) and the two-year Master’s program in Chemistry (MSCHEM). Master’s research projects will be designed to fit our group’s current research focus. Contact us early to discuss potential topics that align with your interests.
PhD Students
To pursue a PhD in our lab, you should hold a Master’s degree (or equivalent) in organic chemistry or a related field and meet NTNU’s PhD program admission requirements (NTNU's PhD programme in Chemistry). Funded PhD positions will be advertised through Jobbnorge. We also support candidates with their own funding. If you have secured funding or wish to apply for a specific scheme, please contact Audun with your CV for a letter of support and application guidance.
Postdoctoral Research Fellows
Postdoctoral candidates with a PhD in organic chemistry or a related field are welcome to apply. Funded positions will be advertised through Jobbnorge. We also support candidates with their own funding. If you plan to apply for a specific funding scheme, contact Audun with your CV for further details.
