We are an interdisciplinary team, with backgrounds in Materials Science, Engineering, Physics and Chemistry.
Postdocs / Research Fellows:

Dr Nusrat Rashid
Email: nusrat.rashid@ucl.ac.uk
Research interests: My research focuses on the development of industrially viable electrochemical systems for direct CO2 conversion to methanol. Currently, I am formulating earth-abundant n-type semiconductors as prospectus anode cores for sustainable, direct and cost-effective PV-EC CO2 electrolysers for net negative GHG emissions in accordance with the circular carbon economy. I am also involved in the life cycle assessment of the prototype development and devising an appraisal method for identifying environmental, social and economic effects of such system on real-world technology translation.
Background: During my PhD, I fabricated different copper-based electrocatalysts to convert CO2 into fuels and factory chemicals. My research involved studies to detail the catalyst structure-activity relationship and structuring electrode/electrolyte interface to selectively favour C2 products over C1 products at low overpotentials and with high CO2 conversion efficiencies.
Previous experience:
• PhD in Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India
• M.Sc in Chemistry, University of Kashmir Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
PhD students:

Quanyao Lin
Email: quanyao.lin.19@ucl.ac.uk
Research interests: My research focuses on novel approaches for efficient, cost-effective, and environmental-friendly photovoltaic devices. I am currently working on combining plasmonic nanoparticles with thin film photovoltaic technologies (perovskite, organic solar cells, etc) as a light management strategy.
Background: During my previous degrees, I have worked on various projects related to nanomaterials, such as quantum dot luminescent spectral converters for solar cells, graphene/silicon Schottky solar cells, and X-ray nanoscintillators for cancer treatment.
Previous experience:
• MPhil Micro- and Nanotechnology and Enterprise, University of Cambridge
• BEng Materials Science and Engineering, Imperial College London

Ying Lu
Email: ying.lu.20@ucl.ac.uk
Research interests: My research focuses on the development of stable perovskites nanocrystals light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with additive engineering. I am currently working on synthesizing consistent NCs, high-quality thin films with various additives and highly efficient and stable perovskite LED devices.
Background: During my MSc degree, I focused on the synthesis and additive doping of CsPbBr3 nanocrystals to achieve higher performances. In this project, CsPbBr3 NCs were synthesized and achieved green light-emission by the method of “thermal-reaction-redispersion”. During my B.Eng. degree, I have worked on two projects related to photocatalysis, which is “Unravelling the C–C coupling in CO2 photocatalytic reduction with H2O on Au/TiO2-x: Combination of plasmonic excitation and oxygen vacancy”.
Previous experience:
- M.Sc. Advanced Material Science, University College London, UK.
- B.Eng. Chemical Engineering, The University of Edinburgh, UK
- B.Eng. Chemical Engineering and Technology, Liaoning ShiHua University, China.

Huiming Luo
Email: huiming.luo.22@ucl.ac.uk
Research interests: I mainly focus on the eco-friendly fabrication of perovskite solar cell including the tin-based perovskites and double perovskites. I will develop several passivation methods enabling green and non-toxic processes for solar cell fabrication.
Background: During my BSc research project, I studied smart hydrogels, like temperature-sensitive and pH-sensitive hydrogels. For my master's degree, I designed and synthesized perovskite with multiple components, and passivated the functional layer with a range of small molecules for the typical n-i-p structure.
Previous experience:
- M.Sc. Environmental engineering, South China University of Technology, China.
- B.Sc. Environmental engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, China.

Galyam Sanfo
Email: galyam.sanfo.20@ucl.ac.uk
Research interests: My research focuses on the development of stable, scalable, and eco-friendly semiconductors for enhanced optoelectronic and electrochemical applications. I will be working on the development of lead-free halide perovskite composites and co-catalysts to improve photocatalytic efficiency and stability. Furthermore, I will be designing suitable perovskite composites for enhanced optoelectronic resilience, as prospective candidates for next-generation X-ray scintillators.
Background: My MSc research focused on mixed halide perovskites engineering and tuning for indoors photovoltaic IoT applications. I focused on poly- halogenic substitutions derived from MAPbI3 to modulate the material’s bandgap and improve structural and optoelectronic properties. Through this, the edge absorption profile was tuned to efficiently accommodate for indoor light illumination.
Previous experience:
- M.Sc. Advanced Material Science, University College London, UK.
- B. Sc. Biochemistry, Queen Mary University of London, UK.

Siming Huang
Email: siming.huang.22@ucl.ac.uk
Research interests: My project aims to design suitable perovskite compositions for indoor PV application and perform a systematic study on their optoelectronic properties, such as the influence of changing temperature, to reveal the origin of performance losses and instability in perovskite thin films and indoor solar cells.
Background: During my undergraduate and master's degrees, I mainly engaged in the research related to 2D materials, such as providing a convenient and efficient way to obtain high dielectric material in atomic scale thickness with controlling the numbers, exploring the exciton dynamics and properties of different materials on variable temperature PL spectroscopy from 4K to 300K, etc.
Previous experience:
- M.Sc. Optics and Photonics, Imperial College London, UK.
- B.Sc. Optoelectronic Information Science and Engineering, HIT, China.
Former members:
MSc cohorts
2021-22
- Ruiqi Wu
- Sirui Yang
- Franhao Ji
- Ruxue Yang
- Bochun Kang
- Runbin Zang
- Yitao Cheng
- Vivi Zhang
- Yu-Kai Su
- Haiyang Yu
2020-21
- Rui Zhou
- Qiwen Yang
- Ying Lu
- Weilun Zheng
- Galyam Sanfo
- Mingxuan Zhang
- Ruijie Xu
- Jiarui Sun
- Patrick Carmody
- Jie Deng
2019-20
- Xuefei Liang
- Xiaorui Li
- Shaoyang Wang
- Jiacheng Wu
- Jiaojiao Hu