RSC Energy Sector recognises promising chemist
The RSC Energy Sector is pleased to announce the winner of its PhD Thesis Award Competition 2019.
The award is given for an outstanding PhD Thesis completed at a UK university in the calendar year 2019 in the field of chemistry for the Energy Sector and assessed by a panel of experts drawn from the RSC Energy Sector Committee. This is the seventh consecutive year that the competition has been held.
Winner: Dr Harriotte Jessica Pereira for her PhD Thesis entitled Nanostructured Copper Window & Reflective Electrodes for Organic Photovoltaics.
Dr Pereira's work focused on developing copper electrodes for organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices. Copper electrodes are a viable alternative to conventional transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) and silver metal electrodes used in photovoltaic devices. They can be used as transparent window electrodes, reflective substrate electrodes and plasmon-active light-catching electrodes.
Dr Pereira demonstrated the fabrication of inverted OPV devices with a champion power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.7%, which was the highest reported efficiency for such a device using a copper-based transparent electrode. The results discussed in her thesis will aid the development of flexible, low cost, photovoltaics and the exploitation of the full potential of OPVs in energy harvesting in support of low-carbon energy generation. Dr Pereira completed her PhD studies at University of Warwick under the supervision of Dr Ross A Hatton.
The purpose of the award is to spotlight UK PhD research in the energy sector. The competition is judged largely on the content and quality of an Executive Summary submitted by the candidate and considers the following criteria: (i) the level to which the work addresses a clear identified need in UK or global energy requirements, (ii) the level to which the work adds significant new understanding to an aspect of the energy sector and (iii) the level to which the work contributes to quantifiable environmentally sustainable energy provision.
The Energy Sector Committee would like to thank all the candidates who entered the competition and provided a challenge for the judges to select the best entry.
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