Two Newcastle University academics have played central roles in developing a new material that dramatically improves the efficiency and durability of solar technology.
Dr Zhongjin Shen and professor Marina Freitag of the university’s School of Natural and Environmental Sciences were part of an international research team looking into one of solar technology’s largest challenges.
Alongside leading scientists from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory led by Dr. Kai Zhu, along with researchers from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, the University of Toledo, Arizona State University, and CubicPV Inc, the Newcastle researchers looked to address the stability of interfaces between critical component layers.
Using advanced computational modelling, chemical synthesis, and mechanical and electrical testing, the team created CPMAC - an ionic salt derived from C60 molecules. Unlike conventional approaches, CPMAC forms stronger bonds at crucial interfaces within solar cells, creating a more resilient structure with three times the mechanical strength of traditional materials.
Dr Shen, who came up with the novel molecule and designed the experiments, said: “We identified that conventional electron transport materials create weak interfaces in solar cells that degrade quickly under real-world conditions. By synthesising an ionic salt from carbon-based molecules, we created stronger connections at these critical junctions, resulting in devices that maintain their performance much longer.”
Professor Freitag said: “The results exceeded our expectations. Using this new material, our collaborative team achieved approximately 26% power conversion efficiency in laboratory devices with less than 2% degradation after 2,100 hours of continuous operation at elevated temperatures. When scaled up to larger modules, the technology maintained 23% efficiency with minimal performance loss.”
She added: “This achievement demonstrates how international scientific partnerships drive innovation in renewable energy. By combining Newcastle’s expertise in molecular design with specialised capabilities from our partners in the US and Saudi Arabia, we’ve addressed a fundamental challenge that no single institution could have solved alone.”
Further work is now needed to optimise the manufacturing processes and reduce costs before CPMAC can be adopted commercially. The team is now looking at scaling up production methods.
The project received funding support from the Royal Society, ƵRI EPSRC Standard Grant, and the US Department of Energy.
