Scientists uncover new ‘in-between’ materials for solar fuels and batteries

University of Warwick

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Researchers have identified previously unknown materials, including a new form of a widely studied clean-energy material, by carefully controlling and tracking how molecular precursors break down during heating. 

Published in Nature Communications, the study uncovers a series of hidden intermediate stages that appear when molecules are heated to become materials. Capturing these intermediates opens a new way to discover and design materials that aren’t accessible through typical synthetic methods. 

Dr Sebastian Pike, Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick said: “When materials are made by heating, scientists usually focus on the final product, the ‘B’ that results from ‘A.’ But this study shows that there are many fascinating stages in between ‘A’ and ‘B,’ and these hidden steps, could be just as important. 

“We didn’t know exactly what we would find going in, but we were confident there would be something interesting and unknown in the intermediate phases. We were thrilled to discover that some of these could have practical uses, even from the very first experiments.” 

Starting with specially designed ‘single-source precursors’, molecules containing all the elements needed to create a material, the team tracked how they transformed during heating. This revealed several new material phases, including a previously unknown, kinetically stabilised form of bismuth vanadate (BiVO₄) named β-BiVO₄. 

BiVO₄ is a valuable clean energy material because it has a “band gap” (the energy it needs to absorb sunlight and drive chemical reactions) that hits a sweet spot: it absorbs sunlight efficiently while still providing enough energy to split water and produce clean hydrogen fuel. 

The newly discovered β-BiVO₄ has a different atomic structure from previously known forms of the material. The new variant has a significantly larger band gap, meaning it interacts with light differently. This could offer new opportunities for tuning the performance of materials used in solar fuel generation, catalysis, and electronics. 

The potential applications were not limited to solar fuels. Another of these hidden intermediate materials was found to store large amounts of lithium, suggesting it could be useful for next-generation battery technologies. 

Dr Dominik Kubicki, School of Chemistry, University of Birmingham said: “What’s exciting is that these ‘in-between’ materials aren’t just stepping stones — they can have useful properties in their own right. By understanding and controlling how they form, we can start to design better materials for batteries, catalysis, and solar energy.” 

The researchers were able to observe these normally hidden intermediate states by combining state of the art techniques - including solid-state NMR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and pair distribution function analysis.  

They also found that the choice of precursor, and how it breaks down, can be used as a powerful tool to control material formation, allowing the team to access structures that are difficult to produce using conventional heating methods. 

Dr. Pike concluded: “We only studied a few precursors here, but this work points to a broader opportunity in materials science. By carefully controlling temperature, precursor chemistry and reaction pathways, there may be many more “hidden” but extremely useful materials to be found.” 

ENDS 

Notes to Editors 

The paper, “Amorphous intermediates and discovery of a kinetic polymorph of BiVO4 from heating V+Bi+Zn single-source precursors”, is published by Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-71702-7 

For more information please contact:  

Matt Higgs, PhD | Media & Communications Officer (Warwick Press Office) 

Email: Matt.Higgs@warwick.ac.uk | Phone: +44(0)7880 175403 

About the University of Warwick 

Founded in 1965, the University of Warwick is a world-leading institution known for its commitment to era-defining innovation across research and education. A connected ecosystem of staff, students and alumni, the University fosters transformative learning, interdisciplinary collaboration, and bold industry partnerships across state-of-the-art facilities in the UK and global satellite hubs. Here, spirited thinkers push boundaries, experiment, and challenge convention to create a better world. 

About the University of Birmingham 

As well as being ranked among the world’s top 100 institutions, the University of Birmingham is the most targeted UK university by top graduate employers. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers, educators, and more than 40,000 students from over 150 countries.   

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Journal

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-026-71702-7 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Amorphous intermediates and discovery of a kinetic polymorph of BiVO4 from heating V+Bi+Zn single-source precursors

Article Publication Date

30-Apr-2026

 

Ancient, insect-targeting bacterial toxin may have implications for human health, agriculture, and drug discovery

McMaster University

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In every backyard, park, and playground on Earth, the ground is teeming with a type of bacteria called Streptomyces — one of the most abundant organisms on the planet. While these dirt-dwelling microbes are known for producing that earthy odor that fills the air after rainfall, that familiar scent is only the tip of their chemical-producing iceberg. 

Streptomyces are, in effect, natural pharmaceutical factories, responsible for producing many of the anticancer compounds, immunosuppressants, and antibiotics used in clinics worldwide. But a new study published in the journal Nature Microbiology suggests that their chemical repertoire is even more complex than previously understood. 

Researchers at McMaster University, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, with collaborators from Stockholm University in Sweden and Yale University, have identified and characterized a new class of Streptomyces-produced toxins that are very distantly related to the deadly toxin that causes diphtheria, a serious and contagious infection, in humans.  

Despite their structural similarities to the diphtheria toxin, though, these newly discovered toxic proteins do not cause human disease. They do, however, kill a broad range of insects.  

“These toxins, which we’ve called Streptomyces antiquus insecticidal proteins, or SAIPs, only affect insect cells,” explains Cameron Currie, a professor in McMaster’s Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences and co-lead on the new study. 

To understand exactly why SAIPs are only toxic to insects, researchers used a genome-editing technology called CRISPR to identify the host factors required for toxicity. By systematically knocking out the genes of insect cells, they pinpointed a surface protein called ‘Flower.’ While versions of this gene exist in other organisms, the insect-specific version is the only known receptor for SAIPs. These toxins cannot enter cells without it, which is why they have no effect on humans. 

Through bioinformatic, genomic, and evolutionary analyses, the research team then traced the emergence of these previously unknown toxins through time, to determine when Streptomyces evolved the ability to produce them. They found that SAIPs are in fact ancient, dating back more than 100 million years. 

For Currie, a member of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research and McMaster’s Jarislowsky Chair in Pandemic Research, the toxins’ ancient history suggests a possibility that they have potentially played a role in shaping human disease, although he notes that remains speculative.  

“We know that the bacteria that causes diphtheria acquired its toxin from another species of bacteria long ago, so it’s possible that these Streptomyces toxins were the crucible for the eventual emergence of the diphtheria toxin,” he says.   

Crucially, not all species of Streptomyces produce these toxins — in fact, the vast majority of species live harmoniously in, on, and around insects. The capability, researchers say, appears to be restricted to a few specific lineages within the massive genus. 

“Streptomyces have primarily been known to have mutualistic relationships with insects, but we have discovered a clade of strains that are likely insect pathogens,” explains Min Dong, a researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, and co-lead on the new study.  

These strains, researchers say, have evolved a highly specialized role in nature.  

“They don’t just kill insects — they are also remarkably efficient at consuming them, using their dead hosts as a source of critical nutrients,” says Currie, who also collaborated with Harvard’s Norbert Perrimon on the study.  

As these specialized Streptomyces strains break down insect tissue, they simultaneously produce potent antimicrobial chemicals — likely to ward off competing microbes drawn to the same resource. As such, the research team believes that these insect-associated strains of Streptomyces could be a largely untapped source of new antibiotics or other medically useful molecules. Already, in past research, the Currie Lab has identified a number of promising antibiotics produced by other Streptomyces strains, which makes him optimistic about the clinical relevance of these new chemicals.  

Beyond that, Currie notes that the discovery of a SAIPs is significant because bacterial toxins can have implications well outside of their role in disease. He notes that botulinum toxin — commonly known as botox — has several medical and cosmetic applications, while other bacterial toxins have been harnessed for uses in immunology, agriculture, and biotechnology. 

“Right now, this is a basic science discovery, but a discovery that may have some really practical applications in the future,” he says. “A toxin like this could potentially help control vectors of human disease, like mosquitos, which can transmit malaria and West Nile virus, or perhaps be used to protect crops from insect pests. It’s possible it could be used in a number of different ways.” 

Currie and his collaborators have already patented their discovery and are now beginning to explore potential commercialization pathways for the toxin — particularly in agriculture, where insect toxins are typically in high demand. 

In the meantime, the research team is investigating how SAIPs behave in more complex biological settings, including in experimental systems involving crickets and mealworms — organisms that serve as tractable models for studying infection and toxicity. These studies are also allowing researchers to isolate the antimicrobials secreted by toxin-producing strains of Streptomyces, which will help them better understand their clinical potential.  

But regardless of how that follow-on work transpires, Currie says the discovery alone is a significant research achievement, and one that signals just how much there is left to learn about bacteria. 

“That we have found something so novel in one of the world’s most abundant and well-studied groups of bacteria underscores how little we actually know about them,” he says. “This toxin stands as a powerful reminder that bacteria are incredibly diverse organisms, with capabilities that continue to surprise us.” 

--

For interviews, contact Cameron Currie, a professor in McMaster’s Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences and co-lead on the new study, at curric7@mcmaster.ca.

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Journal

Nature Microbiology

DOI

10.1038/s41564-026-02315-5 

Article Publication Date

30-Apr-2026

 

Early institutional care lowers life expectancy

University of Zurich

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Children growing up in infant care institutions in the 1950s were well cared for physically and medically, but were deprived of reliable affection and stimulating early childhood experiences. To protect them from infections and infant mortality, the children were largely placed in isolation, spent most of their time alone in their cribs and received less than one hour of interaction with caregivers per day. “The effects of this early childhood psychosocial deprivation are so detrimental that they substantially shorten life expectancy on a scale comparable to well-known health risks like smoking,” says psychologist Patricia Lannen. She has investigated the effects of early childhood placement in childcare facilities in a population-based study, together with a team from the Marie Meierhofer Institute for the Child (MMI), an affiliated institute of the University of Zurich (UZH), and the University Children’s Hospital Zurich.

Higher risk of mortality at young age and shortened lifetime

The researchers analyzed the mortality data of 431 individuals who lived in infant care institutions in Zurich between 1958 and 1961 and compared it to that of a group of 399 individuals from the general population who were born in the same period and region but grew up in their own families. Data on a total of 830 individuals was thus examined and analyzed. The findings of the study are striking: over a period of 60 years, individuals who grew up in infant care institutions exhibited a 48% higher risk of mortality than the comparison group – their life expectancy was shortened by around 12 years on average. Deaths before the age of 40 occurred around twice as often in the group of institutionalized individuals, though the cause of death was often unknown.

The study’s findings show how vital affection and a stimulating environment are in the first years of life. “They play a crucial role in the development of self-regulation and thus also in dealing with emotions and stress in later life,” Lannen explains. “If they are missing, it more frequently leads to risky and health-harming behavior and to increased mortality as a result,” she says.

A chapter of Switzerland’s history under critical review

In Switzerland, it was common practice until far into the 20th century to place infants and toddlers in care institutions, often due to societal norms and decisions by government authorities. Children of unmarried or very young mothers – single motherhood was not considered an acceptable family structure at that time – and children of migrant worker families were particularly at risk of being placed in care institutions. This practice was part of a system of “compulsory social measures and placements” that also included indentured child labor, forced adoption and compulsory sterilization, and today forms part of Switzerland’s ongoing efforts to critically reappraise its history and work towards societal reckoning. 

Unique long-term data reveal lifelong consequences

To date, relatively little is known about bygone infant care institutions, because many individuals were too young when they lived there to remember the experience later on. While efforts to reckon with historical injustices often rely heavily on contemporary witness testimony, the present study complements this historical understanding by adding a unique long-term perspective into late adulthood: data was already being systematically collected on all children in infant care institutions in Zurich since the late 1950s. This makes it possible to track their development and health over their lifetimes. Moreover, since most of the infants were institutionalized shortly after birth and their birth weights did not differ from that of the comparison group from the general population, detrimental influences prior to institutionalization can largely be ruled out.

The historical circumstances provide a methodologically unique starting point for meaningfully investigating the personal impacts of institutional care during infancy under psychosocial deprivation. The findings express the tremendous suffering caused by a lack of affection and stimulation in early childhood. At the same time, they have global relevance because millions of children around the world continue to grow up under similar conditions in orphanages and other care institutions.

 

Background: Coming to Terms with the Past in Switzerland
The long-term study by the Marie Meierhofer Children’s Institute was conducted as part of the Swiss National Science Foundation’s “Welfare and Coercion” national research program (NRP 76) commissioned by the Swiss Federal Council and makes an important contribution to the scholarly reappraisal of compulsory social measures and placements in Switzerland.

 

City of Zurich Acknowledges Injustice

The City of Zurich hails the contribution that the findings of the study make toward further researching and coming to terms with this dark chapter in Switzerland’s history. It is of great importance to the city council to also acknowledge injustices that were committed by City of Zurich authorities. Besides critically revisiting the history of compulsory social measures and placements, this acknowledgement also includes an official apology to the victims and the establishment of a communal solidarity contribution fund.

For further information on the historical reappraisal of compulsory social measures and placements, visit: Compulsory Social Measures and Fostering in Switzerland

 

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Journal

Child Abuse & Neglect

DOI

10.1016/j.chiabu.2026.108040 

Article Title

Survival of the nurtured: A 60-year follow-up study on mortality in institutionalised infants

Researchers find smarter lighting could cut home energy use by 15%

Integrated design tools and efficient lighting systems reduce household energy use and enhance comfort, study finds.

University of East London

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Households could cut lighting energy use by more than 15% without sacrificing comfort, according to new research from the University of East London (UEL), which shows how improved lighting design combined with modern LED technology can make homes cheaper to run and better to live in.

By optimising how lights are planned and positioned alongside the use of energy-efficient LED fittings, researchers found electricity use can be reduced while making rooms brighter and more comfortable.

The findings highlight the potential for better lighting design to support energy efficiency at scale, particularly in existing homes where simple upgrades could deliver meaningful reductions in energy use without major structural changes.

The research, led by Dr Jawed Qureshi, Senior Lecturer in Structural Engineering and Design at UEL, examines how traditional lighting design compares with modern, software-based approaches used by professionals.

For decades, most homes have relied on simple layouts and manual calculations, often leading to uneven lighting, wasted energy and poorly lit spaces. This is particularly common in older UK housing, where outdated systems remain widespread.

A new approach is now emerging. Using specialist design software, lighting can be planned with far greater precision, adjusting the number, type and placement of lights to achieve the best balance between brightness and energy use.

The study looks at 20 typical one-bedroom flats, comparing existing lighting setups with redesigned layouts created using simulation tools and energy-efficient LED fittings. On average, energy use falls from 10.25 kWh to 8.68 kWh, a reduction of 15.3%. At the same time, brightness levels improve significantly, meaning spaces are not only more efficient but also better lit.

In most cases, the redesigned lighting both reduces energy consumption and brings rooms closer to recommended lighting standards used in the UK.

Dr Qureshi said: "Lighting in many homes is still based on outdated assumptions. What this research shows is that by combining smarter design with the right technology, we can reduce energy use and improve how spaces feel at the same time. It is not just about switching to LEDs. It is about using them intelligently."

While energy-efficient bulbs like LEDs are already widely available, the research highlights that technology alone is not enough. The biggest gains come from combining efficient lighting with better design.

By carefully positioning lights and choosing the right output for each room, the software-based approach avoids both over-lighting and dark spots, two common problems in manually designed systems.

The study also finds that improvements are not identical in every case. In a small number of scenarios, energy use increased rather than decreased where more lighting was needed to meet comfort standards, showing that the goal is balance rather than simply minimising power use.

Lighting accounts for a significant share of household electricity use, meaning even modest improvements can have a meaningful impact on energy bills and carbon emissions.

With much of the UK's housing stock ageing and in need of retrofit, the findings suggest that better lighting design can play a practical role in meeting net zero targets, without requiring major structural changes.

Dr Qureshi added: "This is a practical solution that can be applied to both new homes and existing properties. If we take a more thoughtful approach to lighting design, we can deliver energy savings, improve comfort and support wider sustainability goals all at once."

The research, led by Dr Jawed Qureshi and co-authored with Tharani Hemarathne, appears in Buildings journal.

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Journal

Buildings

DOI

10.3390/buildings16081591 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Simulation-Based Visual-Comfort and Energy-Optimised Lighting Design for Residential Buildings: A Comparative Study of Manual and DIALux-Based Approaches

 

New Chinese Medicine and Culture journal issue explores traditional Chinese medicine across history and borders

A new issue explores the evolution of traditional Chinese medicine through texts, practice, empire, and global cross-cultural exchange

Cactus Communications

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The March 2026 issue of Chinese Medicine and Culture explores how Chinese medicine has been shaped by theory, practice, regional traditions, and global exchange.

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Credit: Chinese Medicine and Culture

The latest issue of Chinese Medicine and Culture offers a broad look at how TCM has been formed, interpreted, and transmitted over time. Published as Volume 9, Issue 1 in March 2026, the quarterly journal positions itself as an interdisciplinary forum linking medical science, history, culture, and heritage research. That mission is clearly reflected in this issue, which moves across early Chinese thought, imperial material culture, regional schools of medicine, and the international circulation of medical ideas.

One of the feature articles, “Overarching Three Yin-Three Yang: Evolution of the Basics,” revisits a foundational concept in TCM: the three yin–three yang (三阴三阳) system. Rather than treating it as a fixed doctrine, the paper argues that it emerged gradually from earlier yin–yang (阴阳) cosmology, body movement practices, manual therapies, and early meridian observations. Drawing on classical texts and excavated figurines, the study suggests that this framework developed step by step as ancient thinkers sought to align the human body with the wider cosmos.

A second feature article examines the concept of Du (毒), often translated as “toxicity” or “poison”. The study shows that its meaning varies depending on clinical context, referring to potency, Pian Xing (偏性 imbalanced qualities of materia medica), or harm. It highlights that safety in TCM depends not only on the substance itself, but also on dosage, preparation, and the patient’s condition.

An original article on Shang oracle-bone medical inscriptions traces early ideas about disease causation, suggesting that etiological thinking has much deeper roots than later formal medical canons alone might indicate. It reinforces the view that TCM is not a static body of knowledge, but a long intellectual tradition shaped through continuous reinterpretation.

The issue also explores how medicine has functioned within political and social systems. In “Imperial Power and Medicine: Ingot and Its Equipment Made by Qing Palace during Yongzheng Period,” researchers examine medicinal ingots produced during the Yongzheng period of the Qing dynasty. Using archival records and museum materials, the study shows that these objects were not merely therapeutic items, but also instruments of court ritual and symbols of authority. It suggests that medicine in the Qing court helped regulate not only health, but also hierarchy and political order.

Other contributions highlight the diversity of medical thought and practice. One paper discusses the classical idea of treating lung disease through the large intestine, illustrating the continued relevance of organ interconnections in TCM theory. Another traces the development of Joseon Korea’s indigenous Onyeokhak through Sino-Korean exchange, emphasising how state-driven and pragmatic approaches shaped medical practice.

A comparative study of low back pain in TCM and Thai medicine places different Asian traditions in dialogue around shared clinical challenges. Similarly, a review on the transmission of Chinese medicine in France highlights how medical knowledge evolves as it moves across cultural contexts.

Regional perspectives are also explored. One article examines the Longsha medical school, showing how geography, ecology, local resources, and population characteristics shaped a distinct medical lineage in Jiangsu and beyond. Another review of Mu Tong fruit (木通果实) demonstrates how the names, identities, and attributed effects of a medicinal substance have shifted over time, revealing the layered and often contested nature of materia medica classification.

Overall, this issue presents TCM as a complex and evolving knowledge system shaped by archaeology, language, clinical reasoning, empire, regional identity, and international exchange. It highlights that understanding Chinese medicine today requires recognising how it has continually been reinterpreted and remade.

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Reference

DOI: https://journals.lww.com/CMC/pages/default.aspx

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Journal

Chinese Medicine and Culture

Article Title

Chinese Medicine and Culture Volume 9, Issue 1, March 2026

 

Universal model provides design standards for efficient and durable perovskite solar cells

Researchers establish a reliable framework for understanding energy level alignment in perovskite solar cell interfaces using hole-collecting monolayers

Chiba University

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The newly developed model revealed that both the band bending phenomenon and the energy barrier height at the interface between the perovskite and the hole-collecting monolayer are critical factors in hole collection efficiency, which in turn determines the efficiency of the solar cell.

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Credit: Professor Hiroyuki Yoshida from Chiba University, Japan

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have emerged as one of the most promising renewable energy technologies of the past decade. Besides their remarkable power conversion rates, perovskites are lightweight in nature and can be manufactured through low-cost solution processing methods. Thus, they offer greater versatility for applications that go beyond rooftop solar cell installations, such as integration into building windows, vehicle surfaces, and portable electronics. A recent key breakthrough in PSCs has been the development of hole-collecting monolayers (HCMs)—ultra-thin layers that collect positive electrical charges (‘holes’) from the perovskite material. HCMs have pushed single-junction PSCs to 26.9% power conversion efficiency while improving device stability.

Despite these advances, scientists do not fully understand the fundamental mechanisms governing their molecular and electronic behavior. The way energy levels align at the interface between the electrode, the HCM, and the perovskite layer plays a central role in determining how efficiently charges move through the device. However, several competing theories, such as vacuum level alignment, Fermi level alignment, and the electrode-modified Schottky model, have been used interchangeably to model energy levels at the interface, often without clear justification. As a result, scientists today struggle to predict which HCM materials would perform well or design new ones without relying heavily on trial and error.

Fortunately, a research team led by Professor Hiroyuki Yoshida from the Graduate School of Engineering, Chiba University, Japan, has addressed this knowledge gap by developing the first universal model for energy level alignment at electrode/HCM/perovskite interfaces. Their findings, published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A on March 14, 2026, establish a physically consistent framework that explains and provides guidelines for HCM performance across diverse material combinations. The study was co-authored by Mr. Aruto Akatsuka from Chiba University, Dr. Minh Anh Truong and Professor Atsushi Wakamiya from Kyoto University, Dr. Gaurav Kapil and Professor Shuzi Hayase from The University of Electro-Communications, Japan.

To build this model, the researchers used advanced techniques, including ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy and low-energy inverse photoelectron spectroscopy, to precisely measure key energy properties of representative HCM materials and perovskites. These measurements allowed them to determine important quantities in the materials, such as the work function (energy difference between the Fermi level and the vacuum level of a solid material) and the ionization energy (the energy needed to remove an electron from the surface of a material to the vacuum).

The proposed model treats the electrode/HCM/perovskite interface as two distinct regions. The boundary between the electrode and the HCM is governed by the formation of an interface dipole, which is an electric field created mainly by the dipole moment of the orientationally aligned HCM molecules. Meanwhile, the boundary between the HCM and the perovskite is analyzed through the lens of semiconductor heterojunction theory, a well-known concept in conventional semiconductor-based electronics where two materials with different energy properties meet.

The model identified two critical factors that determine hole collection efficiency. The first is a phenomenon known as ‘band bending,’ which refers to a gradual shift in the energy landscape caused by built-in electric fields at the junction. The second factor is the interfacial energy barrier height, which is the energetic mismatch between materials that can either facilitate or hinder charge transfer. “These quantities are determined solely by a limited set of fundamental parameters, namely the work function of the electrode and the work functions and ionization energies of the HCM and perovskite,” explains Prof. Yoshida. “Using only these parameters, our model successfully and self-consistently explains why certain HCMs lead to superior solar cell performance whereas others do not,” says Prof. Yoshida. Notably, the team validated the model by testing it against experimental data from a diverse range of materials and perovskite combinations.

Overall, this study provides practical guidance for designing materials with improved performance for emerging solar technologies. “The proposed model offers clear selection criteria and molecular design guidelines for HCMs, enabling optimized interfacial energy levels and reducing development time and cost. This will ultimately lead to higher power conversion efficiency and improved reproducibility,” remarks Prof. Yoshida.

The researchers also note that the impact of their work may extend beyond solar cells. The same principles could be applied to light-emitting devices and transistors. “Beyond photovoltaics, this framework can be extended to other semiconductor electronic devices, establishing a new foundation in materials science that contributes to sustainable energy technologies,” concludes Prof. Yoshida.

To see more news from Chiba University, click here.

 

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Reference:

DOI: 10.1039/D5TA04749H

Authors: Aruto Akatsuka1, Minh Anh Truong2, Atsushi Wakamiya2, Gaurav Kapil3, Shuzi Hayase3, and Hiroyuki Yoshida1,4 

Affiliations: 1Graduate School of Engineering, Chiba University

2Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University

3i-Powered Energy System Research Center (i-PERC), The University of Electro-Communications

4Molecular Chirality Research Center, Chiba University

 

About Professor Hiroyuki Yoshida from Chiba University
Dr. Hiroyuki Yoshida is a Professor at the Graduate School of Engineering at Chiba University, Japan. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo in 1995. His research focuses on solid-state physics, organic electronics, and advanced photoelectron spectroscopy techniques. He is particularly well known as the inventor of low-energy inverse photoelectron spectroscopy (LEIPS), which is now widely recognized as a standard technique for determining the electron affinity of solid materials. He has over 100 publications on these topics to his credit. He is also the recipient of several distinguished awards, including the 8th Outstanding Achievement Award at the Japan OLED Forum in 2015 and the 12th Best Paper Award from the Japan Society of Applied Physics, Molecular Electronics and Bioelectronics in 2014.

 

Funding:
This work was supported by JST–MIRAI (JPMJMI22E2) and multiple JSPS-KAKENHI grants, including Scientific Research (A) (JP24H00446 and JP24H00481), Scientific Research (B) (JP24K01571), Transformative Research Areas (A) (JP23H03939), and a JSPS Fellowship (JP25KJ0718).

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Journal

Journal of Materials Chemistry A

DOI

10.1039/D5TA04749H 

Method of Research

Computational simulation/modeling

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

A universal model for energy level alignment at interfaces of hole-collecting monolayers in p-i-n perovskite solar cells