I have scientific research experience in two areas related to the net-zero energy transition:
- recycling diffuse indoor light to power small devices (the IoT).
- harnessing light to produce solar fuels (e.g., green hydrogen) and chemicals.
Postdoctoral Research Associate | Sep 2021 - Present
In my current role, I lead on a collaborative scientific project between the University of Cambridge and McMaster University (Canada). I designed an optical setup to fabricate luminescent patterned films (or luminescent waveguide-encoded lattices - LWELs) for light harvesting. These patterned films are based on acrylate and epoxide polymers and can be applied to the surface of solar cells to boost efficiency. This work has resulted in the filing of a patent (US 63472150).
But why is this useful? The Internet-of-Things (IoT), a network of sensors and actuators connected to computing systems, holds great commercial and societal potential, from streamlining operations to enhancing human health. Many of these will be “fit and forget” devices, creating an urgent demand for off-grid power sources. Currently, most IoT nodes are powered by batteries. However, battery replacement translates into incremental costs through the product life cycle, huge environmental impact during disposal, and significant safety risks in some applications. Could we recyle ambient indoor light to perpetually power these devices instead? LWELs are advanced polymer materials designed to boost the performance of solar cells under diffuse indoor light. The LWEL is retrofitted to the surface of a solar cell where it increases the angular collection of diffuse light and converts indoor light via photoluminescence to better match the spectral response of the underlying solar cell. LWELs are therefore designed to boost the power output of solar cells, such they have sufficient power to drive the networking protocols that underpin the IoT.
To read the associated publications please see:
I have also led efforts to implement a ‘living lab’ where a network of internet-enabled lab sensors feed into a monitoring dashboard to easily quantify and assess the environmental impact of our research.
Doctoral Research Student | Sep 2018 - Aug 2021
In my PhD, I developed a reaction monitoring technology to track photochemical reactions on ~100 nanolitre volumes. I built optofluidic setups for UV-Vis absorbance and fluorescence spectroscopy, generating new kinetic and mechanistic insights into the performance of carbon dots (a light absorber) and cobaloximes (a hydrogen evolution catalyst). During my PhD, I became highly skilled in Python for data wrangling and analysis, and gained proficiency in DFT computational calculations (Gaussian 16) for predicting UV-Vis absorbance and Raman spectra based on molecular structures. I was funded through the NanoDTC.
But why is this useful? One method to create hydrogen cleanly is to split up the water molecule (H2O) into hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2) using sunlight, just like a leaf on a plant. We can use special chemicals called photocatalysts to do this, which capture energy from sunlight to drive chemical reactions. The problem is no one really knows how these photocatalysts work! My project seeked to change this by using optical fibres, the same technology that gives us high-speed internet. Optical fibres are glass tubes around the diameter of a human hair, that guide light effectively. The fibres used in my research were hollow in the middle, so a liquid sample could be injected in. Light could be shone down one end of the fibre, and I observed how the light changed as it interacted with the liquid sample. Specifically, chemicals interact with light in different ways, absorbing and emitting specific colours. These ‘spectroscopic signatures’ can be used to work out how the chemicals change and transform with time. The advantage of using optical fibres is the enhanced light-matter interaction over conventional chemical reactors, and the ultralow volumes mean I can minimise usage of expensive and precious samples.
To read the associated publications please see:
- Assessing the performance of carbon dot light absorbers.
- Real-time detection of cobaloxime intermediates for hydrogen evolution.
- Quantifying 4CzIPN photocatalyst interactions with other molecules.
- Floating artificial leaves for water splitting.
- Probing the electron transfer timescales of carbon dot light absorbers.