{"id":93263,"date":"2024-06-03T14:04:34","date_gmt":"2024-06-03T18:04:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=93263"},"modified":"2024-06-03T17:46:11","modified_gmt":"2024-06-03T21:46:11","slug":"chemistry-prof-honoured-for-breakthrough-solar-panel-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2024\/06\/chemistry-prof-honoured-for-breakthrough-solar-panel-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"Chemistry prof honoured for breakthrough solar panel technology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jianbo Gao envisions a future where solar power generates through film thinner than a hair \u2014 and his team is working to make this a reality.<\/p>\n

Integrated onto the tops of cars, windows and many other surfaces, the film\u2019s wires would plug into, and juice up, cellphones, tablets, vehicles and anything else needing power.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s new solar panel technology Gao and his international research team have created that is less expensive and more environmentally friendly than conventional solar panels and that \u201caims to power mankind using free abundant solar energy,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

By using advanced materials, \u201cwe can double the efficiency of solar power generation,\u201d says the Assistant Professor of Chemistry. \u201cThis new material is a very flexible coating that can even be put on clothing, so that your clothes can generate electricity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gao has been awarded Brock University\u2019s 2024 Award for Early Career Research and Creative Activity<\/a> for his work in the area of photovoltaics, a method of converting sunlight into electricity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough his breakthrough work, Dr. Gao aims to address climate change and the energy crisis, arguably two of the most challenging issues of our time,\u201d says Acting Vice-President, Research Michelle McGinn. \u201cHis research focuses on the development of highly efficient and low-cost solar cells using the safest, cleanest and most abundant solar energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gao, also an Affiliated Professor in the Yousef Haj-Ahmad Department of Engineering, came to Brock in 2022 from Clemson University in South Carolina, where he was Assistant Professor of Physics. Before that, he was a Research Associate Specialist at the University of California at Berkeley.<\/p>\n

Gao is a pioneer of introducing quantum dots into solar cells. Quantum dots are nanocrystals, human-made crystals that are among the smallest objects on earth.<\/p>\n

These nanocrystals act as semiconductors that also would be future LED technology. Semiconductors are specific chemicals that transmit electrical currents between conductors, usually metals, and an insulator, such as ceramics.<\/p>\n

One class of nanocrystals is called perovskite nanocrystalline<\/a>, which contains properties Gao and his team have determined are particularly effective in capturing and converting sunlight into energy.<\/p>\n

Perovskite nanocrystalline can be sprayed onto very thin, flexible sheets of plastic that can be laid down in many locations, he says.<\/p>\n

In addition to decreasing the need for fossil fuels by getting energy from the sun, Gao\u2019s desire is to generate \u201cfree electricity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHundreds of millions of people around the world still don\u2019t have access to electricity,\u201d he says. \u201cElectricity will improve people\u2019s lives. They can use the money they would pay for electricity to purchase food and other essentials.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gao\u2019s work is published widely. Over the past six years, he has produced 34 peer-reviewed journal articles, with more than 6,000 citations, in prestigious science journals such as Science, Nature Physics, Nature Communications <\/em>and Nano Letters<\/em>.<\/p>\n

During that time, he also mentored eight PhD students, two master\u2019s students and 13 undergraduate students in areas such as advanced laser spectroscopy, nanomaterials synthesis and novel device development.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Gao is a natural leader and an inspiration to students who form the next generation of innovators to continue advancing this critical field,\u201d says McGinn.<\/p>\n

The Early-Career Research and Creative Activity Award, valued at $5,000, is co-funded by the Office of the Vice-President, Research and the Brock University Faculty Association to recognize excellence and promise in research, scholarly activity and creative performance and contributions toward the training or mentoring of future scholars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jianbo Gao envisions a future where solar power generates through film thinner than a hair \u2014 and his team is working to make this a reality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":93265,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7484,7,3319,41,1,5],"tags":[794,7437,13591,13584,732,348,12284,2092,13588,13590,13586,13585,13587,3325,13589,12858,12855,838,11217],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93263"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93263"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93266,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93263\/revisions\/93266"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}