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We are constantly surrounded by a wealth of materials in our environment, but the magic of materials goes so far beyond the wood of our bars and the glass in our pint glasses. In this evening, we explore how materials can be used to create solar cells, develop artificial photosynthesis and inspire new ways to generate energy.

So, come with us as we 'weave' through the wonders of materials and 'forge' a new understanding of the place they may have in our future.

Kindly sponsored by the Henry Royce Institute.

Can life inspire energy technologies?

Professor Ewa Marek (Associate Professor from Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge)

Based at the Maxwell Centre, Royce@Cambridge is the centrepiece for industrial engagement with the scientists and engineers working across the materials sciences on the West Cambridge Science and Technology Campus.

Through an initial £12M capital investment in research facilities, they support research and innovation through an inter-departmental network of 18 open access deposition, fabrication and characterisation facilities. Their focus is on supporting the development of materials for energy efficient devices as part of the Royce AtomsToDevices research theme.

Solar cells for space

Jiayi Li (PhD student in Semiconductor Physics)

Without the protection of our atmosphere and magnetosphere, solar cells on satellites and space exploration payloads are exposed to space radiation like high energy particles, which will degrade their power generation performance. Radiation tolerant solar cells made of ultra-thin III-V materials are desired for extended missions in highly damaging environments, along with their advantages of high specific power, weight/cost reduction and flexible form factors.

Artificial photosynthesis: a sustainable society powered by sunlight

Tessel Bouwens (NWO Rubicon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Reisner Lab at the University of Cambridge)

To limit the future global warming to 1.5°, we need to transition to an industry that uses abundant and non-polluting resources to provide us with energy, food and medicines without the use of fossil fuels. To design an alternative system scientist are inspired by nature, where for example, leaves on a plant use solar power to convert simple molecules into the building blocks of life. In this seminar Tessel will explain what we can learn from nature to develop artificial photosynthetic systems to achieve sustainable pathways for the production of solar fuels and pharmaceuticals.

Speaker: Chris Coleridge (Judge Business School)

EPRG Energy & Environment Seminars Easter Term 2024 Tuesdays fortnightly at 12.30-1.30pm (in-person)

Please contact EPRG Administrator (eprgadm@jbs.cam.ac.uk) for further details

A free one-hour tour of the capabilities of the Royce Institute's Battery Suite within the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge. Discover more about this open access equipment and Royce funding opportunities for your research.

This suite of equipment is available for the manufacturing and processing of battery materials for commercial and academic researchers. This comprehensive suite can accommodate a variety of materials and overcome difficult processing operations including microwave manufacture, digestion, separation, drying, purifying, mixing and washing. It includes a glove box, planetary mixer, centrifuge, freeze dryer, shear mixer, reactor synthesis, digestion reactor and rotary evaporator.

The Royce Battery Suite uniquely allows for the exploration of scalable manufacturing and safe processing of battery materials, for the translation of novel energy materials into application, bridging the gap between research and industry.

For more information about Royce Facilities at Cambridge please contact royce@maxwell.cam.ac.uk and see our full equipment listing at: https://www.maxwell.cam.ac.uk/programmes/henry-royce-institute

A free one-hour tour of the Royce Institute's 12T Wide Bore Magnet Facility in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge.

The wide bore magnet is a 12T solenoid fitted with a VTI with a 100mm usable bore supplied by Oxford Innovative Cryogenic Engineering. Temperature control is possible from 325K to < 2K . The system will have a field homogeneity of 0.05% over a 1cm DSV and 0.5% over a 4cm DSV. The system is entirely cryo-cooler operated with a He gas filled cooling loop. The VTI will operate in static, dynamic and one-shot modes.

This system is intended to facilitate materials characterisation and process development across the full range of Royce areas. While the system is provided with a generic fixed sample probe and a 100 A transport probe technical support will be available to exploit the large internal bore of this magnet by designing custom measurement probes. A wide range of standard laboratory equipment is available in the host laboratory to use in conjunction with this system.

This system is ideal for facilitating developments in processing of mesoscopally ordered materials, superconductors and low loss high permeability materials.

This tour will give an overview of the capabilities of the Wide Bore Magnet Facility as well as information on booking, funding opportunities and the work of the Royce Institute.

For more information about Royce Facilities at Cambridge please contact royce@maxwell.cam.ac.uk and see our full equipment listing at: https://www.maxwell.cam.ac.uk/programmes/henry-royce-institute

Climate change is a topic often at the forefront of discussions across the spectrum of academic subjects and we often hear technology blamed for its negative contributions. But could technology also have a positive role to play? 

In this set of talks we hear from experts in the field of sustainable tech who are working to use the powers of technology and artificial intelligence to improve our understanding of climate change, and maybe help turn the tides for the better.

Harvesting from the Solar Spectrum

Georgie Burgoyne Morris (PhD student at the Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge)

The rapidly emerging climate crisis has highlighted the urgency of developing effective renewable energy sources, of which solar power is a key example. However, many existing solar cells only make efficient use of a small portion of the solar spectrum. The use of spectral converters, either in downshifting high-energy light or upconverting low-energy light, allows the solar spectrum to be tuned to allow more efficient energy harvesting. This talk will explore different types of spectral conversion, and the materials challenges involved in effectively implementing these technologies.

Air Pollution & AI: Understanding the Risks and Impact

Michelle Wan (PhD student at the University of Cambridge)

Air pollution affects both our climate and our health. In this talk, Michelle shares two examples of machine learning methods which can help us better understand pollution risks and their health impacts. In the first example, they use smart algorithms to fill in missing data when air quality monitoring sensors break. In the second example, they combine this environmental data with information about wealth and poverty to predict health outcomes.