This consortium of researchers based in Ghana, Cameroon, South Africa and the UK is using materials chemistry to develop materials for use in solar cells.
We especially focus on producing materials that are inexpensive and sustainable, which could lessen the economic and environmental impact of material manufacture for future generations. Successful outcomes of our project will include synthetic pathways to a range of varied materials pertinent to renewable energy applications.
Materials chemistry affects our everyday lives from the processing of semiconductor materials, through energy storage, to applications including environmental protection and remediation. Many materials have the potential for more than one application.
During this project, the materials developed will be principally metals with the elements oxygen, sulphur, selenium and tellurium. Many of these materials have electronic semiconducting properties similar to silicon and can be used in applications such as the photovoltaic generation of electricity and water purification.
Researchers from this consortium contributed towards a case study for World Energy Day 2019.