We are still inviting abstracts for poster presentations. Please send to: cpe-admin@imperial.ac.uk.
Day 1
09.30 Welcome Coffee
SESSION 1. Chair: Prof Jenny Nelson
10.00 Welcome and opening remarks
10.05 Prof Laura Herz, University of Oxford, Ultrafast Optical Probes of Emerging Semiconductors for Light-harvesting Applications
10.35 Prof Magda Titirici, Imperial College London, Sodium-Ion Batteries: From Atomic Insights to Scalable Devices
11.05 Tea/Coffee Break
SESSION 2. Chair: Dr Nicola Gasparini
11.30 Dr Mario Caironi, Instituto Italiano di Technologia, Edible Electronics: A New Avenue for Printed Electronics
12.00 Dr Firat Güder, Imperial College London, Geometrically Transient Materials for Wearable Robotics and Implantable Bioelectronics
12.30 Prof Koen Vandewal, Hasselt University, Organic Opto-electronic Devices: Performance Limitations and New Device Architectures
13.00 Lunch and poster session
SESSION 3. Chair: Dr Felice Torrisi
14.00 Special session with:
Dr Annamaria Petrozza, Insituto Italiano di Technologia, Tin-Halide Perovskite Semiconductors for Efficient Near-Infrared Light-Emitting Sources
Dr Piers Barnes, Imperial College London, Charge Carrier Behaviour in Semiconducting Materials
Dr Andreas Kafizas, Imperial College London, Developing Light-Activating Coatings
Prof Jenny Nelson, Imperial College London, Simulating Electrical Performance of Organic Optoelectronic Devices
Prof Iain McCulloch, University of Oxford, Designing Organic Semiconducting Polymers
Prof Garry Rumbles, University of Colorado, TBC
16.00 Refreshments and poster session sponsored by RSC Sustainability
Poster prizes:
Day 2: focused on early career researchers
SESSION 1: Chair Dr Isabel Creed
9.30 Welcome, Dr Isabel Creed
9.35 Invited speaker: Prof Martijn Zwijnenburg, University College London, Using Theory to Understand the Photocatalytic Activity of Polymers
10.15 Invited speaker: Jose Recatala-Gomez, Nanyang Technological University, Direct Joule-heating Synthesis Enables High Performing Thermoelectrics
10.35 Ruiqi Wu, Imperial College London, Data-Driven Design of Photovoltaics, Thermoelectrics and Transparent Conductors
10.50 Kamran Dastafkan, Imperial College London, Halide Perovskite Photoelectrodes for Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Production
11.05 Coffee/tea break
SESSION 2. Chair: Prof Saif Haque
11.25 Invited speaker: Prof Hugo Bronstein, University of Cambridge, Conjugated Diradicals as Organic Qubits
12.05 Martina Rimmele, Imperial College London, Scalable Donor Polymers with Low Synthetic Complexity for Organic Solar Cells
12.20 Hang Yu, Imperial College London, Operando Characterisation of Charging Behaviour by Polymer Mixed Ionic-Electronic Conductors
12.35 Chengxing Lian, Imperial College London, IonGO: A Graphene-Printed Lab-on-PCB Sensing Platform for Real-Time Point-of-Care Testing
12.50 Lunch break
SESSION 3. Chair: Dr Jess Wade
13.35 Invited speaker: Prof Petra Cameron, University of Bath, Are Mobile Ions (Always) Bad for Perovskite Solar Cells?
14.15 Shilin Yao, Imperial College London, Photoaccumulation of Long-Lived Reactive Electrons in a Microporous Ti(IV) Oxocluster-Based Metal-organic Framework for Dark Photocatalysis
14.30 Shize Li, Imperial College London, MoS2/TiO2 Heterojunctions for Printable Photocatalyst Films for Nitrogen-Oxides Air Remediation
14.45 Poster prizes, closing comments
Poster prizes:
15.00 CPE student/researcher networking event
ABSTRACTS
Prof Magda Titirici, Imperial College London
Sodium-Ion Batteries: From Atomic Insights to Scalable Devices
In this talk I will present our group’s research in Na ion batteries over past years including mechanistic understandings on Na storage in hard carbon anodes and polyanion type NVP cathodes all the way to integration into devices, electrode optimisation, improving life cycle of the battery by seniors integration all the way to recycling it into a new Na ion battery.
Prof Laura Herz, University of Oxford
Ultrafast Optical Probes of Emerging Semiconductors for Light-harvesting Applications
University of Oxford, Department of Physics, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, U.K.
*E-mail: laura.herz@physics.ox.ac.uk
A plethora of new semiconductors have recently emerged as versatile materials for solar cells and photocatalytic applications. Ultrafast optical probes have played a pivotal role in uncovering the mechanisms underpinning light-harvesting performance even before device optimisation has been attempted.
Ultrafast optical probes of photoconductivity dynamics are particularly useful here, uncovering the generation, localisation and ultimate recombination of charge carriers following photon absorption. We report on a peculiar ultrafast self-localisation process observed across wide classes of new bismuth-based semiconductors, including bismuth halides and chalcogenides. We have most recently shown such dynamic transitions from large to small polaronic states to dominate the dynamics of charge carriers in Cs2AgSbxBi1–xBr6 double perovskites,[1] (AgI)x(BiI3)y Rudorffites,[2] and AgBiS2 nanocrystals[3] and discuss the influence of alloying,[1] cation disorder,[3] lattice softness[2] and stoichiometry[1,2] on such charge-carrier localization events.
Probing charge-carrier motion in highly anisotropic semiconductors poses particular challenges. We show how such charge transport can be probed successfully layered, two-dimensional (2D) metal halide perovskites that have been found to improve the stability of metal halide perovskite thin films and devices. We show that the 2D perovskites PEA2PbI4 and BA2PbI4 exhibit excellent in-plane mobilities and unexpectedly high densities of sustained populations of free charge carriers, surpassing the Saha equation predictions even at low temperature.[4] In addition, we examine the transfer of excitations in the direction vertical to the 2D planes,[5] determining a high (factor ~8000 reduction) transport anisotropy with respect to in-plane transport.[6] We further report an interesting odd-even effect in the charge-carrier mobility of lead-iodide-based 2D perovskites incorporating alkylammonium spacer cations of varying carbon chain lengths.[7]
[1] M. Righetto, S. Caicedo-Davila, M. T. Sirtl, V. J.-Y. Lim, J. B. Patel, D. A. Egger, T. Bein, L. M. Herz, JPC Letters 14, 10340 (2023)
[2] S. Lal, M. Righetto, B. W. Putland, H. C. Sansom, S. G. Motti, H. Jin, M. B. Johnston, H. J. Snaith, and L. M. Herz, Adv. Func. Mater. 34, 2315942 (2024).
[3] M. Righetto, Y. Wang, K. A. Elmestekawy, C. Q. Xia, M. B. Johnston, G. Konstantatos, and L. M. Herz, Advanced Materials 35, 2305009 (2023).
[4] S. G. Motti, M. Kober-Czerny, M. Righetto, P. Holzhey, J. Smith, H. Kraus, H. J. Snaith, M. B. Johnston, and L. M. Herz, Adv. Func. Mater. 33, 2300363 (2023).
[5] A. Zanetta, V. Larini, Vikram, F. Toniolo, B. Vishal, K. A. Elmestekawy, J. Du, A. Scardina, F. Faini, G. Pica, V. Pirota, M. Pitaro, S. Marras, C. Ding, B. K. Yildirim, M. Babics, E. Ugur, E. Aydin, C.-Q. Ma, F. Doria, M. A. Loi, M. DeBastiani, L. M. Herz, G. Portale, S. DeWolf, M. S. Islam, and G. Grancini, Nature Communications 15, 9069 (2024).
[6] J. Du, M. Righetto, M. Kober-Czerny, S. Yan, K. A. Elmestekawy, H. J. Snaith, M. B. Johnston, and L. M. Herz, Adv. Func. Mater. 35, 2421817 (2025).
[7] M. Choghaei, M. Schiffer, V. Tyagi, M. Righetto, J. Du, M. Buchmüller, K. Brinkmann, G. Brocks, P. Görrn, L. M. Herz, S. Tao, T. Riedl, and S. Olthof, J. Mater. Chem. A (2025), DOI: 10.1039/D5TA01234A
Dr Mario Caironi, Instituto Italiano di Tecnologia
Edible Electronics: A New Avenue for Printed Electronics
Edible electronics envisions a technology that is safe for ingestion, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective. Differently from “ingestible” electronics, it aims at realizing electronic devices that are degraded within the body after performing their function, either digested or even metabolized, thus removing any retention hazard and not contributing to e-waste. Edible electronics could target a significant number of biomedical applications, such as remote healthcare monitoring, as well as food quality monitoring, in the form edible electronic tags directly in contact with food. Here I report on our recent progress in the selection and formulation of edible functional materials, in the development of edible active electronic components and circuits, as well as edible sensors and power sources. Such advancements allow to foresee the integration of the first proof-of-concept edible electronic systems for smart pills and smart packaging.
Dr Firat Güder, Imperial College London
TBC
Prof Koen Vandewal, Hasselt University
Organic Opto-electronic Devices: Performance Limitations and New Device Architectures
Organic opto-electronics has seen tremendous progress in the past decades: Organic light emitting diodes are a commercial product which can be found in smart-phones and TV screens, while organic photodiodes reach detectivities comparable to that of silicon in the visible wavelength range.[1] Moreover, organic photovoltaic devices allow for an easy, light-weight integration into buildings and now reach power conversion efficiencies over 20% for lab-scale devices.[2] Based on our current understanding of charge carrier photo-generation, recombination, and charge- and thermal transport, we will link molecular and microstructural properties to device performance parameters. This allows us to determine performance limitations for organic photovoltaic and photo-detecting devices.[3,4] We will further discuss novel nano-optical concepts to tune light absorption[5,6] and will review our recent work on new device architectures enabling organic infrared detectors and photon up-conversion.
[1] J. Vanderspikken, K. Vandewal et al. Adv. Funct. Mater. 31, 2104060 (2021), [2] C. Li et al. Nat. Mater. 24, 433 (2025) [3] S. Ullbrich, K. Vandewal et al. Nat. Mater. 18, 459 (2019), [4] S. Gielen, K. Vandewal et al. Adv. Mater. 32, 2003818 (2020), [5] Z. Tang, K. Vandewal et al. Adv. Mater. 29, 1702184 (2017), [6] A. Mischok, K. Vandewal, M. Gather et al. Nat Commun 15, 10529 (2024)
Prof Iain McCulloch, University of Oxford, TBC
Prof Jenny Nelson, Imperial College London, TBC
Dr Annamaria Petrozza, Insituto Italiano di Technologia
Tin-Halide Perovskite Semiconductors for Efficient Near-Infrared Light-Emitting Sources
Light-emitting diodes (LED) with different emission spectra are widely used in our daily life for a variety of applications. However, due to fundamental restrictions of light-emitting materials, the development of near-infrared LEDs (NIR-LEDs) is still modest. Recently, solution-processed tin-halide perovskites (THPs) have emerged as one of the most promising light-emitting materials for NIR-LED application. Here, first the peculiarities of THPs semiconductors, and how their electronic properties affect the light emission efficiency, will be presented. Then, efforts in material engineering to design and master the electronic properties of THP films will be discussed. In particular, a facile yet highly effective strategy will be presented to master the defects activity in THPs by developing self-encapsulated tin-halide perovskite films. Through the incorporation of a rationally designed molecule into perovskite precursors, isolated tin-iodide perovskite particles are formed and in-situ encapsulated, achieving outstanding air stability. Meanwhile, the resulting film exhibits a significantly reduced trap density and mitigated p-doping density such that it is exploited to boost radiative charge recombination to reach an impressive photoluminescence quantum yield approaching 50%. Leveraging these advancements, NIR-LEDs demonstrate a peak external quantum efficiency of 12.4%, accompanied by a substantial improvement in operational lifetime. Notably, for the first time, we demonstrated functional tin- iodide perovskite-based devices in ambient air. This work provides a robust pathway for realizing high-performance and stable tin-halide perovskite-based optoelectronic devices, addressing critical challenges for their widespread application.
Dr Piers Barnes, Imperial College London, TBC
Martijn A. Zwijnenburg
Using Theory to Understand the Photocatalytic Activity of Polymers
In my contribution I will discuss the challenges of trying to understand the photocatalytic activity of organic polymers for water splitting and CO2 reduction and how theoretical calculations can help with this. To assist in illustrating these challenges (and opportunities in terms of material performance) I will discuss them in the context of the results of our collaborations with experimental groups in Liverpool, Glasgow, London, Stuttgart, Fuzhou and Tokyo.
Ruiqi Wu, Imperial College London
Data-Driven Design of Photovoltaics, Thermoelectrics and Transparent Conductors
The discovery of new materials has driven advances in energy conversion and storage, including batteries, photovoltaics, thermoelectrics and transparent conductors.
Recently, Google released the GNome[1] dataset of hypothetical compounds, built on an unbiased screening of chemical space, which identified thousands of novel potentially stable inorganic materials. However, the true stability of these compounds remains unclear, and their functional properties have yet to be evaluated for energy applications. In this work, we carry out a large-scale high-throughput screening of the GNome dataset. We employ hybrid density functional theory to robustly evaluate the optoelectronic properties of over 600 compounds, selected according to their earth-abundant and non-toxic compositions and predicted bandgaps. Based on this, we ranked the compounds based on their suitability for photovoltaics, thermoelectrics and transparent conductor applications. To provide reliable predictions of materials stability, we comprehensively ensure the predicted materials are the true thermodynamic ground state through ab initio random structure searching, while, dynamical stability is assessed through vibrational properties. For the most promising candidates, we obtain the intrinsic defects and electronic transport properties to guide experimental device design. Our work identifies several novel earth-abundant candidates with state-of-the-art performance in energy applications.
[1] Merchant, A., Batzner, S., Schoenholz, S.S. et al. Scaling deep learning for materials discovery. Nature 624, 80–85 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06735-9
Kamran Dastafkan, Imperial College London
Materials and Device Engineering for Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Production
As wide-bandgap photoabsorber in perovskite solar cells and photoelectrochemical devices, CsPbBr3 suffers from limited charge separation and transport, compared to lower-bandgap perovskites.1,2 We report modulated CsPbBr3 structure with boosted photovoltaic properties by the combined supersaturation/confinement effects of antisolvents and ionic liquids. Nonpolar trifluorotoluene antisolvent creates a supersaturated environment by extracting polar solvents during PbBr2 formation, thus precipitating perovskite nucleation upon adding CsBr. This supersaturation effect prevents uncontrolled crystallization, typical in polar solvents. 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazoliumiodide ionic liquid interacts with undercoordinated Cs+/Pb2+ and acts as mobile ion reservoir during CsBr deposition. This confinement effect retards perovskite nucleation and decreases deep-level traps. Combining these effects balances crystallization kinetics, reduces grain boundary density, and enhances ion transport in CsPbBr3. Modulated CsPbBr3 depicts improved open-circuit potential (1.46 V), short-circuit current density (8 mA cm-2), and power conversion efficiency (7.8%) compared to 1.19 V, 6 mA cm-2, and 4.0% for untreated CsPbBr3. As photoanode protected with graphite and integrated with CoFe hydroxide catalytic sheets with low overpotentials (<0.3 V) for water oxidation, this modulated CsPbBr3 demonstrates reduced photocurrent onset potential (+0.05 VRHE) and enhanced photocurrent density (8 mA cm-2) at +1.23 VRHE in alkaline water compared to +0.4 VRHE and 5.5 mA cm-2 obtained for untreated CsPbBr3.
1. Zhu, Z. Daboczi, M. Chen, M. Xuan, Y. Liu, X. Eslava, S. Ultrastable halide perovskite CsPbBr3 photoanodes achieved with electrocatalytic glassy-carbon and boron-doped diamond sheets. Nat Comm. 2024, 15, 2791.
2. Daboczi, M. Cui, J. Temerov, F. Eslava, S. Scalable all-inorganic halide perovskite photoanodes with >100 h operational stability containing earth-abundant materials. Adv. Mater. 2023, 35, 2304350.
3. Zheng, C. Wang, J. Zheng, H. Cao, S. Peng, Y. Unassisted CsPbBr3 -Cu2O tandem devices for solar-driven overall water splitting. ChemCatChem 2025, e00388.
Hugo Bronstein, University of Cambridge
Conjugated Diradicals as Organic Qubits
Optical control and readout of electronic spin states present promising opportunities for quantum computing, an emerging field that harnesses quantum mechanics to enhance information processing. To date, this phenomenon has primarily been demonstrated through solid-state defects, such as the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centre in diamond, where challenges remain in precise spin placement and facile fabrication of multi-spin devices. Organic materials offer an attractive alternative due to their tuneable electronic properties and atomistic synthetic control. In particular, tris(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)methyl (TTM) radicals, when functionalized with electron-donating or accepting groups, exhibit excellent optical and spin properties alongside exceptional radical stability.
Here, we report the design and synthesis of TTM-based diradical spin-optical qubits, where two radical centres are coupled through a conjugated linker to emulate the triplet ground state of the diamond NV centre. These diradicals display high photoluminescent quantum efficiencies in the red region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Furthermore, they can emit through both their singlet and triplet electronic states, marking a unique demonstration of this phenomenon in an organic system. Optically detected magnetic resonance measurements are predicted to show a positive PL contrast. These findings represent a significant step toward the controlled molecular design of spin-optical materials for quantum information applications.
Martina Rimmele, Imperial College London
Scalable donor polymers with low synthetic complexity for organic solar cells
Significant efforts have been devoted to enhancing the efficiency of organic electronic devices—including organic photovoltaics (OPVs), organic photodetectors (OPDs), and organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs)—through sophisticated molecular design. However, the high synthetic complexity of many top-performing materials remains a major bottleneck to scalability and commercial adoption. In this work, we introduce a new class of donor polymers that can be synthesized in just two steps from commercially available starting materials.[1] This synthetic simplicity enabled the rapid generation of a polymer library with varying alkyl-chain lengths and comonomers, facilitating systematic studies of their thermal, electrochemical, and photophysical properties. These insights led to the development of valuable structure–property design guidelines.
The polymers were evaluated as donor materials in solar cell devices with Y6 and L8BO acceptors. The standout material, FO6-T, delivered a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 15.4% and demonstrated compatibility with green solvents such as 1,2-xylene and 2-MeTHF. To assess commercial viability, we conducted a synthetic complexity (SC) analysis considering industrial parameters like hazardous reagents and synthesis steps. Our materials rank among the lowest SC for high-performing donor polymers. Combining high efficiency, low cost, and a truly simple synthetic protocol, this new class of polymers holds strong promise for scalable commercial applications across multiple organic electronic technologies.
ADDIN EN.REFLIST [1] M. Rimmele, Z. Qiao, J. Panidi, F. Furlan, C. Lee, W. L. Tan, C. R. McNeill, Y. Kim, N. Gasparini, M. Heeney, Materials Horizons 2023, 10, 4202-4212.
[2] J. Panidi, E. Mazzolini, F. Eisner, Y. Fu, F. Furlan, Z. Qiao, M. Rimmele, Z. Li, X. Lu, J. Nelson, J. R. Durrant, M. Heeney, N. Gasparini, ACS Energy Letters 2023, 8, 3038-3047.
[3] E. Mazzolini, Z. Qiao, J. Muller, F. Furlan, M. Sanviti, D. Nodari, M. Rimmele, A. Collauto, C. Deibel, M. Heeney, J. Martin, F. Eisner, J. Nelson, N. Gasparini, J. Panidi, Advanced Energy Materials 2025, n/a, 2405635.
[4] M. Rimmele, Z. Qiao, F. Anies, A. V. Marsh, A. Yazmaciyan, G. Harrison, S. Fatayer, N. Gasparini, M. Heeney, ACS Mater Lett 2024, 6, 5006-5015.
[5] M. Rimmele, P. Sukpoonprom, A. V. Marsh, F. Aniés, A. Yazmaciyan, G. Harrison, S. Fatayer, P. Pattanasattayavong, N. Gasparini, J. Panidi, M. Heeney, Macromolecular Rapid Communications 2025, n/a, 2500059.
Prof Petra Cameron, University of Bath
Are Mobile Ions (Always) Bad for Perovskite Solar Cells?
The dual electronic-ionic nature of perovskite solar cells has complicated the interpretation of almost all the standard PV characterisation techniques. For example, when ions move on the timescale of current-voltage measurements, they can act to modify carrier recombination rates and carrier extraction, influencing the shape of the response. Ions can also modify fast measurements, where the ‘frozen in’ ion distribution impacts the electronic response of the device. This presentation will cover our recent work measuring and modelling a wide variety of perovskite solar cells (PSCs); and introduce the wealth of information that can be obtained from impedance and other electrochemical techniques when the ions are used as diagnostic probes for the solar cells.
Shilin Yao, Imperial College London
Photoaccumulation of Long-lived Reactive Electrons in a Microporous Ti(IV) Oxocluster-Based Metal-organic Framework for Dark Photocatalysis
he microporous Ti12 oxocluster based metal-organic framework MIP-177(Ti)-LT exhibits excellent stability and photoactivity, making it highly promising for photocatalytic applications (LT stands for Low Temperature). This study employs transient and photoinduced absorption spectroscopies to analyse the behaviour of reactive electrons in MIP-177(Ti)-LT across femtosecond-to-second timescales. On this time line, MIP-177(Ti)-LT shows effective charge separation and relatively slow decay kinetics, with photogenerated charges persisting through to microsecond-second timescales and exhibiting significantly higher yields and slower decay kinetics than two benchmark metal (IV) oxoclusters based photoactive MOFs, MIL-125-NH2 (Ti) and UiO-66-NH2 (Zr). Photogenerated holes in MIP-177(Ti)-LT are proved to be able to oxidise water to produce oxygen at a yield of 335 µmol/g in 1 h in the presence of electron scavengers. Meanwhile, long-lived photogenerated electrons are observed accumulate under continuous irradiation, with this accumulation being enhanced by the presence of a hole scavenger, methanol. Noteworthy, these photogenerated electrons can persist for over 48 hours post-photoexcitation under sealed conditions in Ar, causing a reversible colour shift from white to black. These accumulated long-lived electrons are shown to be redox-active, efficiently reducing both added oxygen and methyl-viologen. The subsequent dark addition of a platinum co-catalyst results in hydrogen evolution with a yield of circa 300 µmol/g, corresponding to an accumulated electron density of one electron per 12 Ti atoms (i.e., one electron per titania oxocluster). These results highlight the photocharging properties of MIP-177(Ti)-LT and its potential for sustainable and efficient photocatalytic processes.
Shizhe Li, Imperial College London
MoS₂/TiO₂ Heterojunctions for Printable Photocatalyst Films for Nitrogen Oxides Air Remediation
Liquid phase exfoliation (LPE) of MoS₂ offers an efficient and scalable method for producing two-dimensional (2D) MoS₂ nanosheets, enabling their incorporation into solution-processable inks1. These inks can be combined with other materials to create printable or sprayable hybrid inks for various applications. The absorption spectrum of few-layered MoS₂ in the visible makes it an excellent candidate for photocatalysis, particularly in overcoming the limitations of conventional photocatalysts, such as TiO₂, which primarily absorbs UV light2. Additionally, the formation of a heterojunction between MoS₂ and TiO₂ can enable effective electron-hole separation, further enhancing photocatalytic performance.
While 2D MoS₂/TiO₂ heterojunction photocatalysts have demonstrated potential, current synthesis methods—such as chemical vapour deposition (CVD)3 or hydrothermal processes4—are complex, time-intensive, and costly. These limitations hinder their feasibility for large-scale applications, including nitrogen oxides (NOx = NO and NO2) air remediation which prefers large-area thin film coatings on glass5.
In this study, we prepared three types of MoS₂ inks from MoS₂ crystals and powders via sonication in polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) solutions in isopropanol. These inks were used to fabricate MoS₂/TiO₂ heterojunctions through a simple sonication process, followed by spray coating onto glass substrates. The resulting films were tested as photocatalysts for NOx air remediation under ISO 22197-1:2016 protocol. Under UV light, the best-performing sample achieved a NOx removal efficiency of 15.52%, which was 3.30 times higher than that of P25 (mixed-phase TiO₂ powder, commercial product). Under visible light, the best performing sample achieved 6.62% NOx removal; 4.90 times that of P25. Band structure analysis confirmed the formation of a type-II heterojunction between MoS₂ and TiO₂, facilitating efficient electron-hole separation and significantly enhancing photocatalytic performance.
1. Carey, T. et al. Inkjet Printed Circuits with 2D Semiconductor Inks for High-Performance Electronics. Advanced Electronic Materials 7, (2021).
2. Thomas, N. et al. 2D MoS2: structure, mechanisms, and photocatalytic applications. Materials Today Sustainability 13, (2021).
3. Guo, L. et al. MoS2 /TiO2 heterostructures as nonmetal plasmonic photocatalysts for highly efficient hydrogen evolution. Energy Environ. Sci. 11, 106–114 (2018).
4. Xiong, Y. et al. Lattice origin of few-layer edge-on MoS2@TiO2 octahedral clusters for piezoelectric enhancement. Applied Surface Science 588, 152942 (2022).
5. Wong, Y., Li, Y., Lin, Z. & Kafizas, A. Studying the effects of processing parameters in the aerosol-assisted chemical vapour deposition of TiO2 coatings on glass for applications in photocatalytic NOx remediation. Applied Catalysis A: General 648, (2022).
BIOS
Prof Magda Titirici, Imperial College London
Magda Titirici received her PhD in Materials Chemistry from University of Dortmund in Germany after moving with her PhD supervisor from Johannes Guttenberg University Mainz. She joined the Max-Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces as a Postdoctoral Fellow and later become a Group Leader, starting her independent research on sustainable carbon materials in 2006. Magda received her Habilitation in 2013 from University of Potsdam/Max-Planck Institute. She then moved to UK, to Queen Mary University of London as a Reader in Materials Science and in 2014 she was promoted to Full Professor. Magda moved to Imperial College London in January 2019 to take up a Chair in Sustainable Energy Materials.
Dr Firat Guder, Imperial College London
Firat Guder received his BSc (first division) from the University of New Brunswick, Canada in Computer Engineering. He studied Microsystems Engineering (MSc) at Furtwangen University, Germany and KU Leuven / IMEC, Belgium. Firat completed his PhD with summa cum laude at the University of Freiburg, Germany under the supervision of Prof. Margit Zacharias. His research primarily involved investigation of nanostructural transformations by atomic layer deposition, unconventional methods for photolithography and patterning, synthesis of nanomaterials and design and fabrication of sensors and actuators. In 2013, Firat was awarded the prestigious German Research Foundation’s International Research Fellowship to carry out research in the group of Prof. George Whitesides at Harvard University, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. In 2016 Firat joined Imperial College London, Department of Bioengineering as a member of faculty (Lecturer – US equivalent Assistant Professor).
Dr Mario Caironi, Insituto Italiano di Technologia
Mario Caironi was born in Bergamo (Italy) in 1978. He studied at “Politecnico di Milano” (Milan, Italy) where he obtained his Laurea degree in Electrical Engineering in 2003 and a Ph.D. in Information Technology with honours in 2007, with a thesis on organic photodetectors and memory devices. In March 2007 he joined the group of Prof. Henning Sirringhaus at the Cavendish Laboratory (Cambridge, UK) as a post-doctoral research associate. He worked in Cambridge for 3 years on high resolution inkjet printing of downscaled organic transistors and logic gates, and on charge injection and transport in high mobility polymers. In April 2010 he was appointed as Team Leader at the Center for Nano Science and Technology@PoliMi of the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Milan, Italy), in 2014 entered the tenure track at the same institution and obtained a tenured researcher position in 2019. He is author and co-author of more than 200 scientific papers in international journals and books. His activities in printed organic electronics span from high resolution printing techniques for micro-electronic, opto-electronic and thermoelectric devices, to the device physics of organic semiconductors based field-effect transistors and their integration in high-frequency printed circuits. He is currently interested in edible electronics and organic biosensors for biomedical, healthcare and food applications. He is a 2014 starting ERC grantee and a 2019 consolidator grantee.
Prof Koen Vandewal, Hasselt University
Koen Vandewal obtained his PhD in Physics at Hasselt University in 2009 working on the physics of organic photovoltaics. After that, he spent two years as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Linköping University in Sweden and another two years at Stanford University (USA). In 2014, he was appointed as endowed professor at the Technische Universität (TU) Dresden in Germany. In January 2018, he moved from TU Dresden to Hasselt University, leading the OOE research group with the aim to solve fundamental questions in the field of organic, hybrid and molecular electronics with relevance to applications in electronic devices such as organic light emitting diodes, solar cells and sensors. He is full professor and the current chair of the physics department at UHasselt.
Prof Laura Herz, University of Oxford
Prof Laura Herz has directed the Semiconductors Group at the Clarendon Laboratory since 2003. She received her PhD in Physics from the University of Cambridge in 2002 and was a Research Fellow at St John’s College Cambridge from 2001 – 2003, after which she moved to a faculty position at Oxford Physics. She held an Advanced Fellowship by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council from 2006-2012 and is currently an EPSRC Open Fellow. She is a member of the EPSRC Strategic Advisory Team on Energy and Decarbonisation.
Professor Herz has published over 220 peer-reviewed research articles and is currently listed by Clarivate Analytics/Web of Science as a Highly Cited Researcher. She has received a number of awards for her research, including the Michael Faraday Medal and Prize by the Institute of Physics, the Environment, Sustainability and Energy Division mid-career Award by the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Nevill Mott Medal and Prize by the Institute of Physics and the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Bessel Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and a student-led teaching award, by the Oxford Student Union, in the category “Outstanding Graduate Supervisor”. She is an Associate Editor of Applied Physics Reviews and Chemical Physics Reviews (AIP). Prof Herz is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Materials Research Society (MRS), the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Institute of Physics, and University College Oxford. She is currently an Honorary Professorship at the Australian National University.
Dr Annamaria Petrozza, Insituto Italiano di Technologia
Annamaria Petrozza leads the Advanced Materials for Optoelectronic Group since October 2013 and is the Coordinator of the Centre of Nano Science and Technology in Milan.
Her research is focused on the development of sustainable optoelectronic technologies which can be extensively integrated in the everyday life. She got the “Innovators Under 35 Italy 2014” award by the MIT Technology Review for her pioneering work on metal halide perovskites. She has been selected among the “Emerging Investigators 2017” by the Royal Society of Chemistry. In 2017 Annamaria received the highly competitive European Research Council Consolidator grant, a 2.2M Euros award to support excellent and disruptive science. In 2022 she was awarded the “Innovation in Materials Characterization Award” by the Materials Research Society. In 2022 she also got the Distinguished Scientist Fellowship from the KSU. Since November 2022 she is a Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry.
Dr Andreas Kafizas, Imperial College London
The leader of the Solar Coatings Group, Dr. Andreas Kafizas, completed his MSci in Chemistry at University College London in 2007, where he remained to undertake his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Ivan Parkin. Upon completing his PhD in 2011, he was awarded the Ramsay Medal for best graduating doctor in the Department of Chemistry. In 2012, he was awarded the Ramsay Fellowship, where he studied under Prof. James Durrant at Imperial College London. In 2016, he was awarded a Junior Research Fellowship, Imperial College London. In 2018, he was awarded a Lectureship at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London.
Prof Jenny Nelson, Imperial College London
Jenny Nelson is a Professor of Physics at Imperial College London, where she has researched novel varieties of material for use in solar cells since 1989. Her current research is focussed on understanding the properties of molecular semiconductor materials and their application to organic solar cells. This work combines fundamental electrical, spectroscopic and structural studies of molecular electronic materials with numerical modelling and device studies, with the aim of optimising the performance of solar cells based on molecular and hybrid materials.
Prof Iain McCulloch, University of Oxford
Iain McCulloch is a Professor of Polymer Chemistry, in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Oxford, UK. He also holds a joint position as Professor of Polymer Materials within the Program of Chemical Sciences at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia, and serves as Director of the KAUST Solar Center.
Iain McCulloch is also a Visiting Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Imperial College London. He obtained his BSc and PhD in Chemistry at the University of Strathclyde.
Prof Hugo Bronstein, University of Cambridge
Hugo Bronstein studied Chemistry at Oxford, before going on to do a PhD at Imperial College with Prof. Charlotte Williams. After postdocs at the University of Washington in Seattle for Prof. Christine Luscombe and at Imperial College London with Prof Iain McCulloch he was awarded am Imperial College Junior Research Fellowship in 2012 before being appointed as a lecturer at University College London in 2013. In 2015 he was awarded an ERC starting grant and then in 2017 Iappointed as a lecturer joint between the physics and chemistry departments at the University of Cambridge. He was awarded an EPSRC fellowship in 2019 and then promoted to Professor in 2022.
Prof Petra Cameron, University of Bath
Petra Cameron did her first degree in chemistry at the University of Edinburgh(1996-2001). She then went on to do a PhD in dye sensitized solar cells at the University of Bath (2001-2004). Following graduation she spent two years as an Alexander Von Humboldt research fellow at the Max Plank Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, Germany, before returning to Bath as an RCUK research fellow in 2007. She became a tenured lecturer in 2012 and a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in 2014. In 2009 she was awarded the Harrison-Meldola prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry for her work on solar cells. She has published papers with collaborators from the UK as well as international collaborators from ten countries spanning Europe, North and South America, New Zealand and China.
Prof Martijn Zwijnenburg, University College London
Martijn obtained his PhD in Chemical Engineering at Delft Technical University, Delft, the Netherlands, in 2004. His thesis, supervised by Dr. Stefan Bromley and Profs. Koos Jansen and Thomas Maschmeyer, focussed on the modelling of a range of siliceous materials, including zeolites and silica nanostructures.
In 2010 Martijn received a Career Acceleration Fellowship from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and returned to London to work at University College London’s Chemistry Department. Here he started his own research group working primarily on modelling the photo- and electrochemistry of materials, photocatalysis and understanding the structures of self-assembled and polymeric materials. In 2012 he accepted a lectureship in the department and in 2016 was promoted to Reader (associate professor) and in 2020 to full professor.