Advanced Materials for Energy Generation and Storage

Firoz Alam^a, Steve Hudziak^a, Quanyao Lin^b, Ying Lu^b, Xiaopeng Liu^b, I van P Parkin^b, Buddha Deka Boruah^b, Mojtaba Abdi Jalebi^b, David Lewis^c

^aDepartment of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

^bInstitute for Materials Discovery, University College London, London, WC1 E 7JE, UK

^cDepartment of Chemistry, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

Proceedings of International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV26)

Uppsala, Sweden, 2026 May 18th - 20th

Organizers: Gerrit Boschloo, Ellen Moons, Feng Gao and Anders Hagfeldt

Poster, Firoz Alam, 225
Publication date: 11th March 2026

We know the global population continues to grow, so does the demand for energy consumption, leading to increased environmental pollution due to the extensive use of fossil fuels. This situation underscores the need for the intensive adoption of green energy sources such as solar and wind power. Solar energy, in particular, stands out for its abundance and environmental friendliness, making it a promising solution to address both environmental concerns and energy shortages. However, the intermittent nature of sunlight necessitates the integration of solar harvesting devices with electrochemical storage systems to store excess solar energy for use during periods of darkness or when needed.

Formamidinium lead iodide (FAPbI₃) is a highly promising halide perovskite absorber for next-generation solar cells owing to its optimal bandgap and strong visible-light absorption. In this poster, aerosol-assisted chemical vapour deposition (AACVD) was employed as a scalable vapour-phase technique to achieve uniform FAPbI₃ thin films with enhanced morphology and crystallinity, demonstrating strong potential for large-area photovoltaic fabrication. Despite the excellent photovoltaic performance of the black α-phase FAPbI₃, its structural instability remains a major challenge for long-term device operation. Compositional engineering through cation and anion tuning provides effective pathways for stabilizing the photoactive phase, improving environmental durability, and understanding composition–property relationships while maintaining high device efficiency.

In parallel, photo-assisted zinc-ion capacitors offer an emerging route for integrating solar energy harvesting with electrochemical energy storage. Isotype heterojunction graphitic carbon nitride photocathodes enhance charge separation and accelerate ion transport under illumination, leading to improved photoelectrochemical performance and energy-storage capability.

References:

Firoz Alam et al. Thin films of formamidinium lead iodide (FAPI) deposited using aerosol assisted chemical vapour deposition (AACVD). Sci. Rep., 2020 10, 1-7.

Quanyao Lin et al. The race between complicated multiple cation/anion compositions and stabilization of FAPbI3 for halide perovskite solar cells, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2023, 11, 2449

Xiaopeng Liu et al. Isotype heterojunction graphitic carbon nitride photocathode for photo-accelerated zinc-ion capacitors, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2024, 12, 25801-25811

Acknowledgements:

FA and SH gratefully acknowledge the EEE Department for financial support. We also sincerely thank all collaborators for their valuable contributions. In addition, we acknowledge funding support from UCL, CSC, EPSRC UKRI.

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International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics

International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV) is celebrated yearly in May. The main topics are the development, function and modeling of materials and devices for hybrid and organic solar cells. The field is now dominated by perovskite solar cells but also other hybrid technologies, as organic solar cells, quantum dot solar cells, and dye-sensitized solar cells and their integration into devices for photoelectrochemical solar fuel production.

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