Research

Research Projects (grants timeline)

• International collaboration towards dual-functional photovoltaics enabling power transfer and optical signal transmission (EPSRC OTG), 2025 £55k (YQ PI)

• Seeing (Infra)Red: Pushing Pt(II) complexes towards bright near-infrared (NIR) emission through homoconjugation and molecular interactions (The Royal Society) 2025 £30k (MKE PI)

• A Novel PV-Powered Outdoor Lighting System with Energy Storage Using an Optimised MPPT Algorithm (InnovateUK, KTP) 2024 £208k (YQ CoI)

• Aggregation-induced delayed fluorescence in Pesticide and Herbicide Detection (APHiD) for the Brazilian Agricultural Industry (The Royal Society) 2024 £212k (MKE PI)

• North East Space Communications Accelerator (NESCA), (EPSRC PBIAA), 2024 £2.5M (VB PI)

• Efficient Self-Powered Electrochromic Devices through Photonic Curing and Integration with Perovskite based Solar Cells, (The Royal Society International Exchanges), 2024 £12k (KT PI)

• Semi-transparent Flexible Thin Photovoltaic Film For Window Applications, Northern Accelerator CCF, 2024 £29k (VB PI)

• EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Renewable Energy Northeast Universities Plus (ReNU+)  (EPSRC, EP/Y035542/1 ) 2024 £5.4M (NSB PI, GZ/VB Co-Is)

• Sonic Intangibles : Northumbria and Newcastle Universities Sonification Hub for Innovation in Sound and Meaning  (UKRI), 2024 £734k (LW Co-I) 

• Hyperuniform Disordered Metasurfaces for Selective Absorbers (EPSRC, EP/Y016440/1) 2024 £1.1M (DH, Co-I)

• Green and Halogen-free Organic Solvents for Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) Spectroscopy [GHOSTS] (The Royal Scoiety of Chemistry) 2024 £10k (MKE PI)

• Heating with light: photonic curing for photovoltaic technologies (EPSRC, EP/Y022270/1), 2024, £397k (GL PI) 

• Materials Characterisation Suite - Surface Science Equipment (The Wolfson Foundation), 2023, £1M (GZ PI)

• Additive Micro/Nano-manufacturing of Structured Piezoelectric Active Materials for Intelligent Stent Monitoring (EPSRC, EP/Y003551/1) 2023 £129k (DH PI)

• Optical and wireless sensors networks for 6G scenarios (EU-MSCA Doctoral Netwroks), 2023, €2.67M (YQ Co-I) 

• Materials Chemistry HEC Consortium (MCC) (EPSRC, EP/X035859/1), 2023, £687k (LW Co-I)

• Advanced Thin Film Sputtering Fabrication Facility (TF-FAB) (EPSRC, EP/X030202/1), 2023, £971k (GZ PI, VB/NSB Co-I) 

• Silverlight (Lockheed Martin Corporation), 2022, £150k (VB PI)

• Lightweight Photovoltaic Enabling Power Transfer and Simultaneous Optical Wireless Communication for Indoor Internet of Things (IoT) Applications (The Royal Society - Newton International Fellowships, NIF\R1\221739), 2022 £135k (KSG PI, YQ Co-I)

• Reimagining Photovoltaics Manufacturing (EPSRC, EP/W010062/1), 2021 £986k (NSB PI, VB/GZ Co-I)

• Ultralight Absorber for Remote Energy Source (U-AREs) (Newton Fund Institutional Links , 2021, £235k (YQ PI, VB Co-I)

• SolPV: Solution-processed inorganic thin-film photovoltaic devices (EPSRC, EP/V008692/1), 2021 £607k (DT PI, NB/GZ Co-I)

• Self-powered Switchable Glazing for Sustainable Energy in Buildings (The Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship), 2021, £120k (KT PI, GZ Co-I)

• 3D Nanophotonics in Artificially Structured Chalcogenide Materials (EPSRC, EP/V040030/1) 2021 £380k (DH PI) 

• Title (NECEM Core Fund), 2021 £7k (YQ PI)

• Title (NECEM Core Fund), 2021 £8k (GL PI)

• Antimony bismuth chalcoiodides for photoelectrochemical water-splitting (Royal Society of Chemistry Research Enablement Grant), 2021, £10k (DT PI)

• NU-FAB (North East LEP Energy for Growth Fund), 2020 £113k  (NSB PI)

• Nanoscale Interfacial Engineering of Antimony-based Absorber Material for PV Applications, (NECEM Flexible Fund), 2019 £156k (VB PI/GZ Co-I)

• Photovoltaic Paint, (EPSRC EP/T005491/1), 2019 £239k (NSB PI)

• EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Renewable Energy Northeast Universities (ReNU), (EP/S023836/1), 2019 £5.4M (NSB PI, GZ/VB Co-Is)

• Fully depleted heterostructures: a novel thin-film solar cell architecture for improved device performance (CAMREG Flexible Fund), 2018 £44k (NSB/GZ Co-I)

• Achieving higher solar cell performance through international collaboration (EPSRC EP/R014884/1), 2018, £20k (NSB PI)

• North East Centre for Energy Materials (NECEM) (EPSRC EP/R021503/1), 2017-2020, £1.8M (GZ/NSB Co-I)

• CZTSSe Solar Cells from Nanoparticle Inks (EPSRC EP/N024389/1), 2016-2018, £98k (GZ PI)

• Development of Efficient low Cost Photovoltaic Solar Cells Based on the use of Tin Sulphide Absorber Layers (UKIERI/DST IND/CONT/E/13-14/657), 2014-2016,  £22k (GZ PI)

• A Low Cost Nanostructure Fabrication System for Sustainable Solar Paint (Royal Society RG120090), 2012-2013, £15k  (NSB PI, GZ Co-I)

• Shunt resistor development (HEIF Project), 2013, £6k. (GZ Co-I)

Research Impact and Outreach

• NUPV is featured in Physics World!

• We have produced an easy to read informative article about our research for nannoparticle paints. Read all about it here.

• NUPV exposed their research at the Big Bang Fair North East 2017 (GZ)