Project opportunity
This Earmarked Scholarship project is aligned with a recently awarded Category 1 research grant. It offers you the opportunity to work with leading researchers and contribute to large projects of national significance.
With only water as a by-product, hydrogen represents an alternative clean energy carrier to reduce the consumption of conventional fossil fuels with high carbon emissions, which alleviates environmental burden while meeting worldwide growing energy demands. The future mass production of hydrogen relies on electrolysis, which extracts hydrogen from water using electricity. In this scenario, integrated photovoltaic-electrolysis (PV-EC) systems were developed as a desirable and renewable avenue to use solar energy-converted electricity to drive the electrolytic reaction of water splitting, enabling direct solar hydrogen production with low energy transition losses and zero carbon emission. With the most abundant solar energy resources on earth, Australia is identified as an ideal hydrogen production powerhouse using advanced PV-EC technologies. To implement mature green hydrogen industry in Australia, there is still a lack of reliable PV component that can offer sufficient working voltages and good long-term operational stability to meet the high over-potential requirement of industrial water-splitting electrolysers under harsh operational conditions.
This project aims to design novel functional materials to achieve high-voltage and durable all-perovskite tandem solar cells for efficient green hydrogen production. The success of this project will not only provide a new PV-EC platform for pilot-scale solardriven hydrogen production with a low levelised cost, but also advance knowledge in solar energy conversion, material science, and semiconductor physics.
Scholarship value
As a scholarship recipient, you'll receive:
- living stipend of $32,192 per annum tax free (2023 rate), indexed annually
- tuition fees covered
- single Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC)
Supervisor
Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology
Email: p.chen1@uq.edu.au
Preferred educational background
Your application will be assessed on a competitive basis.
We take into account your
- previous academic record
- publication record
- honours and awards
- employment history.
A working knowledge of semiconductors, thin film coating, electrochemistry, and organic molecules would be of benefit to someone working on this project.
The applicant will demonstrate academic achievement in the field(s) of material science, chemistry, physics, nanotechnology and the potential for scholastic success.
A background or knowledge of material science, chemistry, physics, and nanotechnology is highly desirable.
Latest commencement date
If you are the successful candidate, you must commence by Research Quarter 1, 2024. You should apply at least 3 months prior to the research quarter commencement date.
If you are an international applicant, you may need to apply much earlier for visa requirements.
How to apply
You apply for this project as part of your PhD program application.