Professor Alastair Buckley
School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences
School Director of Education
Professor of Organic Electronics
alastair.buckley@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 3597
+44 114 222 3597
E49, Hicks Building
Full contact details
Professor Alastair Buckley
School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences
E49
Hicks Building
Hounsfield Road
Sheffield
S3 7RH
School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences
E49
Hicks Building
Hounsfield Road
Sheffield
S3 7RH
- Profile
-
I joined the department in September 2008 following 8 years leading research and development in emerging technology company MicroEmissive Displays.
Before that I graduated with a chemical physics degree and a PhD in spectroscopic measurements of discharge lighting.
In industry I was responsible for researching and designing polymer light emitting device architectures and manufacturing schemes for integration with CMOS microelectronic displays (a bit like the ones in Google glass or in virtual reality goggles).
- Research interests
-
Currently I have three complementary research themes relating to energy. Only key papers are given. The first theme covers electrode interfaces, devices and manufacturing processes for polymer optoelectronics and the photophysics of molecular materials.
This is the backbone of my research, building on my industrial expertise. I have supervised 5 PhD’s in this field. My research highlight is the statistical experimental determination of the distance power law for energy transfer between molecules in a dielectric matrix.
The second theme covers the field performance and integration of PV systems into the UK electricity network.
This research now dominates my portfolio with an industrial contract with National Grid to provide methods to calculate the contribution of PV power on the UK transmission network. The as developed methods are now live in the National Grid control room.
This work has been funded through a combination of research council, industry and higher education innovation funding and as a result of continued grant capture I now direct the largest UK research database of PV performance (Microgen database).
The third theme investigates future energy systems through collaborative knowledge production. This work was completed in conjunction with social science and humanities researchers and is linked to themes one and two.
It attracted a large EPSRC grant following on from University seed funding of a three student PhD network.
- Publications
-
Show: Featured publications All publications
Featured publications
Journal articles
- PCDTBT based solar cells: one year of operation under real-world conditions. Scientific Reports, 6(1). View this article in WRRO
- Organic photovoltaic devices with enhanced efficiency processed from non-halogenated binary solvent blends. Organic Electronics, 21, 216-222. View this article in WRRO
- Hole injection in tri-arylamine containing polyfluorene co-polymer devices with molybdenum oxide contacts. Journal of Applied Physics, 109(8), 084509-084516.
- Efficient planar heterojunction mixed-halide perovskite solar cells deposited via spray-deposition. Energy and Environmental Science, 7(9), 2944-2950.
All publications
Edited books
- Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (OLEDs): Materials, Devices and Applications. Woodhead Publishing.
Journal articles
- The economic impact of location on a solar farm co-located with energy storage. Energy, 278, 127702-127702.
- Photocatalytic Reduction of CO2 to CO in Aqueous Solution under Red-Light Irradiation by a Zn-Porphyrin-Sensitized Mn(I) Catalyst. Inorganic Chemistry, 61(34), 13281-13292.
- The uncertainties involved in measuring national solar photovoltaic electricity generation. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 156, 112000-112000.
- Water-gated transistor using ion exchange resin for potentiometric fluoride sensing. Micromachines, 11(10). View this article in WRRO
- PV Cell Orientation Angles Optimization for a Base Station Equipped With Several PV Cells. IEEE Transactions on Green Communications and Networking, 4(1), 194-208.
- A flexible back-contact perovskite solar micro-module. Energy & Environmental Science, 12(6), 1928-1937. View this article in WRRO
- Low-Temperature, High-Speed Reactive Deposition of Metal Oxides for Perovskite Solar Cells. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 7(5), 2283-2290. View this article in WRRO
- Ultrasonic spray coating as an approach for large-area polymer OLEDs: The influence of thin film processing and surface roughness on electrical performance. AIP Advances, 9(1). View this article in WRRO
- Renewable Energy Sharing among Base Stations as a Min-Cost-Max-Flow Optimization Problem. IEEE Transactions on Green Communications and Networking. View this article in WRRO
- Opening Up the Participation Laboratory: The Cocreation of Publics and Futures in Upstream Participation. Science, Technology & Human Values, 43(5), 785-809. View this article in WRRO
- Interdisciplinarity in Transdisciplinary Projects: Circulating Knowledges, Practices and Effects. disP - The Planning Review, 54(2), 77-93. View this article in WRRO
- Investigation of the distribution of localised and extended states in amorphous MoOx. AIP Advances, 8(5). View this article in WRRO
- PV Cell Angle Optimization for Energy Generation-Consumption Matching in a Solar Powered Cellular Network. IEEE Transactions on Green Communications and Networking. View this article in WRRO
- Geometric optimisation of an accurate cosine correcting optic fibre coupler for solar spectral measurement. Review of Scientific Instruments, 88(9). View this article in WRRO
- Comparative indoor and outdoor stability measurements of polymer based solar cells. Scientific Reports, 7. View this article in WRRO
- Energy Return on Energy Invested (ERoEI) for photovoltaic solar systems in regions of moderate insolation: A comprehensive response. Energy Policy, 102, 377-384. View this article in WRRO
- Co-producing energy futures: impacts of participatory modelling. Building Research and Information, 44(7), 804-815. View this article in WRRO
- A review of energy systems models in the UK: Prevalent usage and categorisation. Applied Energy, 169, 607-628. View this article in WRRO
- Open-Circuit Voltage in Inverted Polycarbazole:Fullerene Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells. IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, 6(4), 918-923. View this article in WRRO
- Thermally Stable Solution Processed Vanadium Oxide as a Hole Extraction Layer in Organic Solar Cells. Materials, 9(4), 235-235. View this article in WRRO
- PCDTBT based solar cells: one year of operation under real-world conditions. Scientific Reports, 6(1). View this article in WRRO
- Dependence on material choice of degradation of organic solar cells following exposure to humid air. Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics, 54(2), 216-224. View this article in WRRO
- Grain size dependence of degradation of aluminium/calcium cathodes in organic solar cells following exposure to humid air. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 140, 25-32.
- Intensity-Modulated Spectroscopy on Loaded Organic Photovoltaic Cells. IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, 5(5), 1414-1421. View this article in WRRO
- Organic photovoltaic devices with enhanced efficiency processed from non-halogenated binary solvent blends. Organic Electronics, 21, 216-222. View this article in WRRO
- The role of the hole-extraction layer in determining the operational stability of a polycarbazole:fullerene bulk-heterojunction photovoltaic device. Applied Physics Letters, 106(7), 073301-073301. View this article in WRRO
- Solid state concentration quenching of organic fluorophores in PMMA. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 17(2), 1435-1440. View this article in WRRO
- Monitoring nationwide ensembles of PV generators: Limitations and uncertainties. The case of the UK. Solar Energy, 108, 252-263.
- Organic photovoltaic devices incorporating a molybdenum oxide hole-extraction layer deposited by spray-coating from an ammonium molybdate tetrahydrate precursor. Organic Electronics, 15(3), 692-700.
- Solution processed nickel oxide anodes for organic photovoltaic devices. APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS, 104(6). View this article in WRRO
- Development of Community Led Renewable Energy Projects. MRS Proceedings, 1657.
- Air processed organic photovoltaic devices incorporating a MoOx anode buffer layer. Applied Physics Letters, 102(18).
- The Infl uence of MoOx Anode Stoicheometry on the
Performance of Bulk Heterojunction Polymer Solar Cells. Advanced Energy Materials.
- Polymer Solar Cells: Fabricating High Performance, Donor-Acceptor Copolymer Solar Cells by Spray-Coating in Air (Adv. Energy Mater. 4/2013). Advanced Energy Materials, 3(4), 410-410.
- Tuning of the emission energy of fluorophores using solid state solvation for efficient luminescent solar concentrators. Applied Physics Letters, 102(13).
- Fabricating high performance, donor-acceptor copolymer solar cells by spray-coating in air. Advanced Energy Materials, 3(4), 505-512.
- Ray-Optics Modelling of Rectangular and Cylindrical 2-Layer Solar Concentrators. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 31(7), 1033-1044.
- Application of gauge R&R to the rigorous measurement of quantum yield in fluorescent organic solid state systems.. Rev Sci Instrum, 83(7), 073108.
- Reactive sputtering: A method for controlling the stoichiometry and energy level structure of amorphous molybdenum oxide films. Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, 1443, 34-40.
- Hole injection in tri-arylamine containing polyfluorene co-polymer devices with molybdenum oxide contacts. Journal of Applied Physics, 109(8), 084509-084516.
- Cover Picture: Highly Efficient Visible‐Light Driven Photochromism: Developments towards a Solid‐State Molecular Switch Operating through a Triplet‐Sensitised Pathway (Chem. Eur. J. 16/2011). Chemistry – A European Journal, 17(16), 4333-4333.
- Highly efficient visible-light driven photochromism: Developments towards a solid-state molecular switch operating through a triplet-sensitised pathway. Chemistry - A European Journal, 17(16), 4385-4395.
- Analysing space charge limited currents in organic light emitting diodes. SYNTHETIC MET, 160(5-6), 540-543.
- Probing the transitions between morphological phases in an oligofluorene thin-film using temperature-dependent photoluminescence spectroscopy. CHEM PHYS LETT, 468(1-3), 32-36.
- Laser-assisted patterning of conjugated polymer light emitting diodes. Organic Electronics, 6(5-6), 221-228.
- Efficient energy transfer in organic thin films - implications for organic lasers. J APPL PHYS, 92(11), 6367-6371.
- Dynamics of Förster energy transfer in polyfluorene-based polymer blends. Pacific Rim Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, CLEO - Technical Digest, 492-493.
- Energy transfer dynamics in polyfluorene-based polymer blends. CHEM PHYS LETT, 339(5-6), 331-336.
- Time resolved photoluminescence of electroluminescent polymer blends and organic microstructures. Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe - Technical Digest, 366.
- Ultraviolet Raman characterisation of diamond-like carbon films. Diamond and Related Materials, 8(2-5), 541-544.
- Global Benchmarking and Modelling of Installed Solar Photovoltaic Capacity by Country. Energies, 17(8), 1812-1812.
- The economic impact of location on a solar farm co-located with energy storage. Energy.
- Efficient planar heterojunction mixed-halide perovskite solar cells deposited via spray-deposition. Energy and Environmental Science, 7(9), 2944-2950.
- The Economic Impact of Location on a Solar Farm Co-Located with Energy Storage.
Chapters
- The place and space of power: Mess, uncertainty and change over time, Enabling the City: Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Encounters in Research and Practice (pp. 48-63).
- The technology and manufacturing of polymer OLED on complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) microdisplays, Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) (pp. 459-511). Elsevier
Conference proceedings papers
- Optimal Deployment of Energy Harvesters with Anti-Correlated Energy Generation at Base Stations. ICC 2020 - 2020 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC), 7 June 2020 - 11 June 2020.
- Modeling and Optimization of Renewable-Energy Sharing among Base Stations as a Minimum-Cost-Maximum-Flow Problem. 2018 IEEE 87th Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC Spring), 3 June 2018 - 6 June 2018.
- PV cell angle optimisation for energy arrival-consumption matching in a solar energy harvesting cellular network. IEEE International Conference on Communications
- PV Cell Orientation Angle Optimization for a Solar Energy Harvesting Base Station. GLOBECOM 2017 - 2017 IEEE Global Communications Conference, 4 December 2017 - 8 December 2017.
- A low cost photovoltaic maximum power point tracking buck converter for cell phone charging applications. PCIM Europe Conference Proceedings (pp 643-650)
- ATX power supply derived MPPT converter for cell phone charging applications in the developing world. 7th IET International Conference on Power Electronics, Machines and Drives, PEMD 2014
- ATX power supply derived MPPT converter for cell phone charging applications in the developing world. 7th IET International Conference on Power Electronics, Machines and Drives (PEMD 2014)
- Repurposing of ATX computer power supplies for PV applications in developing countries. 2013 International Conference on Renewable Energy Research and Applications (ICRERA), 20 October 2013 - 23 October 2013.
- Effective energy management: UK'S future goals. Proceedings of the 9th Conference on the Industrial and Commercial Use of Energy, ICUE 2012 (pp 33-40)
- Towards a generic OLED lifetime model. JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION DISPLAY, Vol. 17(7) (pp 611-616)
- P-OLED microdisplay technology. Proceedings of International Meeting on Information Display, Vol. 2006 (pp 105-110)
- Dynamics of Forster Energy Transfer in Polyfluorene-based Polymer Blends. Optics InfoBase Conference Papers
- Time-resolved PL studies of partially conjugated MEH-PPV control of excimer emission. Synthetic Metals, Vol. 119(1-3) (pp 575-576)
- Time resolved photoluminescence of electroluminescent polymer blends and organic microstructures. Conference Digest. 2000 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe (Cat. No.00TH8505)
Reports
- Interdisciplinary toolkit: Getting the most from interdisciplinarity View this article in WRRO
Preprints
- PCDTBT based solar cells: one year of operation under real-world conditions. Scientific Reports, 6(1). View this article in WRRO
- Research group
- Teaching activities
-
- PHY346 – Group industrial project in physics. This module gives students the opportunity to develop team work skills in the context of a real industrial project with a client organization.
- PHY248 – Physics with Labview. This is a module in which computer programming is used as a problem solving tool in the context of complex instrumentation problems.
- PHY337/4437 – Physics in an enterprise culture. This module gives students an opportunity to develop and test their own ideas for business.
- PHY250 – I teach differential equations as part of the second year core physics module.
I am one of the academic directors of the White Rose Industrial Physics Academy. An cross university project to enhance the skills base of physics graduate for technical industry.
I am an academic lead for the level 2 Achieve More programme. This is a University wide initiative to prove a broader and more interdisciplinary education for all undergraduates.
- Professional activities and memberships
-
- Director of Education (Sep 2022-present)