Dr Yongtao Qu

Associate Professor

Department: Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering

Dr Yongtao Qu is an Associate Professor in Physics with his research interest in developing light absorbing layers and structures for the generation of clean and renewable electricity. Dr Qu has published one book chapter and 30+ research articles, including several world-leading journals such as Progress in Photovoltaics (ranked 6/126 in Energy & Fuels category) and Composites Part A (3/34 in Materials Science & Composite category). Yongtao led a British Council-Newton Fund Institutional Links to develop ultralight absorber using photonic lift-off technology for remote energy harvesting research programme (£247k, 2021-2023), and hosted The Royal Society-Newton International Fellowship on lightweight PVs for IoT applications (£135k, 2023-2025). Working closely with 16 partners across the UK and Europe, he has recently been successful in securing a Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Networks 2023 - Optical and wireless sensors networks for 6G scenarios (OWIN6G, €2.67M). Dr Qu has been invited to give 10+ talks at significant conferences/leading institutions, organised/chaired 5+ international events, reviewed paper publications for 10+ journals and served as an Associate Editor in Frontiers in Chemistry.

Dr Qu is directly contributing as the Centre Manager to the running of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Renewable Energy Northeast Universities (ReNU). He was instrumental in helping ReNU to achieve accreditation in 2022 from both the Institute of Physics (IOP) and the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and led a series of training and workshops to help ReNU PhD students to secure the Registered Scientist (RSci) status as a mark of excellence in personal and professional integrity.

Du Qu is actively involved in the physics and electrical engineering programmes within the Department of Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering. The work includes being Module Tutor for Advanced Photovoltaics, teaching Semiconductor Physics and supervising both undergraduate and postgraduate project students. This commitment was recognised in 2021 when he was awarded Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, following the assessment of my Post-Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP) programme which received "Distinction" status.

Links

Renewable Energy Northeast Universities

Northumbria Photovoltaic Group

Campus Address

E411 block
Ellison Building

Email Yongtao

Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

Dr Qu is expertized in the development, fabrication, characterisation, thin film PV devices from printable nanoparticle inks, which provides added benefit to high volume and high value manufacturing to develop a reliable and transferable technology in light weight Earth abundant solar cells. His current research interest is to explore and understand the interfaces between the materials within the solar cells over a full range of length scales (atom to device), from the investigation of atomic ordering in the absorber to the improvement of PV devices via reduced back contact barrier using alternative nanoparticle fabrication strategy. He also has wide research interests in green energy materials, including fullerene C₆₀ carbon materials, insulation/flame-retardant materials and CO₂ adsorption/storage materials.

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Diode laser induced crystallization of CZTS thin films deposited on flexible molybdenum foils, Olavil-Karayi, S., Sezer, K., Kartopu, G., Jones, M., Punathil, P., Oklobia, O., Tyrer, J., Jones, L., Qu, Y., Barrioz, V., Zoppi, G., Beattie, N., Woolley, E. 21 Feb 2025, In: Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing
Recent Advances in Surface Functionalized 3D Electrocatalyst for Water Splitting, Meethale Palakkool, N., Taverne, M., Bell, O., Mar, J., Barrioz, V., Qu, Y., Huang, C., Ho, D. 1 Feb 2025, In: Advanced Energy and Sustainability Research
Ecodesign of kesterite nanoparticles for thin film photovoltaics at laboratory scale, Jones, M., Willis, B., Campbell, S., Kartopu, G., Maiello, P., Punathil, P., Cheung, W., Woolley, E., Jones, L., Oklobia, O., Holland, A., Barrioz, V., Zoppi, G., Beattie, N., Qu, Y. 5 Aug 2024, In: ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering
Editorial: Functional materials with charge transfer properties and their application in photoelectric devices—volume II, Zheng, M., Liu, Y., Gatti, T., Qu, Y. 8 Apr 2024, In: Frontiers in Chemistry
In-depth Compositional Analysis of the Carbon-Rich Fine-Grain Layer in Solution-Processed CZTSSe Films Accessed by a Photonic Lift-off Process, Javed, A., Jones, M., Campbell, S., Yerci, S., Barrioz, V., Qu, Y. 15 Feb 2024, In: Advanced Materials Interfaces
Kesterite Films Processed with Organic Solvents: Unveiling the Impact of Carbon-Rich Fine-Grain-Layer Formation on Solar-Cell Performance, Javed, A., Donmez, D., Jones, M., Qu, Y., Gunbas, G., Yerci, S. 8 Sep 2024, In: Energy Technology
Life Cycle Assessment of Laboratory Scale CZTS Solar Cells, Rigby, O., Willis, B., Punathil, P., Jones, M., Qu, Y., Jones, L., Woolley, E., Barrioz, V., Zoppi, G., Beattie, N. 16 Dec 2024, Proceedings of MATSUS Spring 2025 Conference (MATSUSSpring25), Valencia, Spain, Fundació Scito
Microwave Absorption Performance of Nitrile Butadiene Rubber/Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer Rubber Filled with Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes, Kang, L., Qu, J., Liu, Y., Zhang, B., Qu, Y. 20 Jan 2024, In: Journal of Applied Polymer Science
Soft-Baking Optimization in CU2ZnSn(S,Se)4 Absorbers Prepared from Nanoparticle Inks, Jones, M., Campbell, S., Beattie, N., Zoppi, G., Barrioz, V., Qu, Y. 9 Jun 2024, 2024 IEEE 52nd Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC), IEEE
Thermal storage performance of latent heat thermal energy storage device with helical fin under realistic working conditions, Zhang, N., Cao, X., Fan, X., Chen, L., Qu, Y. 5 Jan 2024, In: Applied Thermal Engineering

Current and Recent Projects

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Lightweight Absorber Photovoltaic Based Indoor Energy Harvesting for Internet of Things (IoT) Devices, Qu, Y. (Principal Investigator), The Royal Society, 01/01/23 - 31/12/24, £134,992.00

Professional Activity

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Oral presentation: Fabrication of Novel 3D Structured Electrode for Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Generation Applications using Additive Manufacturing 2023