Dr Peng Chen

Dr Peng Chen specialises in the development of low-cost and eco-friendly nanomaterials for thin-film solar cells, perovskite optoelectronics, and wearable electronics.

Dr Chen received his PhD degree from the School of Chemical Engineering at UQ in 2020 under the supervision of Prof. Lianzhou Wang. He then moved to AIBN for Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics (ACAP) Research Fellow (2020-2022), ARC DECRA Fellow (2023-2025), and ARC ECR Industry Fellow (2026-2028). Over the past decade, Dr Chen has made notable contributions to the development of low-cost and efficient thin-film photovoltaic technologies for renewable energy conversion and storage, including perovskite solar cells, quantum dot solar cells, and lead-free perovskite optoelectronics. In 2018, he pioneered the concept of bilayer 2D/3D heterostructures for stable perovskite solar cells (Adv. Funct. Mater. 2018, 28, 1706923; citation: >850 times, ESI Highly Cited Paper). In 2021, he participated in the design of ultrastable perovskite-MOF glassy composites for lighting applications (Science 2021, 374, 621; ESI Highly Cited Paper). In 2024, he led the team to achieve a certified world-record efficiency of 16.65% for lead-free perovskite solar cells (Nature Nanotechnology 2025, 20, 779; ESI Hot Paper). In 2026, his team achieved the best-reported efficiency of 15.27% for inorganic tin halide perovskite solar cells (Advanced Materials 2026, e19143). Over the past decade at UQ, Dr Chen has contributed to over 70 peer-reviewed publications in top journals, including Science (×1), Nature Nanotechnology (×1), Nature Energy (×1), Nature Communications (×2), Advanced Materials (×5), Angewandte Chemie International Edition (×7), Journal of the American Chemistry Society (×2), Advanced Energy Materials (×4), ACS Nano (×3), Advanced Functional Materials (×4), Nano Energy (×3), etc. His publications have attracted >8200 citations with a H-index of 38 (Google Scholar). He has attracted over $5 million competitive research funds from ARC, ARENA, Australian Government, etc.

Industry

Dr Chen is a co-inventor of two Australian patents: “tin perovskites, methods for preparation and applications therefor” (AU2024903310, PCT stage) and “a metal organic framework glass composite comprising metal halide perovskite” (AU2022335914, PCT stage). Dr Chen has been working on several industry-supported funds, including ARC Linkage Projects, AEA Ignite Fund, and ARC ECR Industry Fellowship.

Collaborations

Dr Chen is the solar cell group leader in the Nanomaterials Centre (Nanomac) and a founding CI of the Global Hub for Advanced Materials and Integrated Optoelectronics (AMIO) at UQ.

Funding

Current Funds: 2025-2027 AEA Ignite Seed Fund (lead CI, $200k) 2025-2027 Global Hub of AMIO (co-CI, $1166k) 2026-2027 ARC LIEF Grant (co-CI, $380k) 2026-2028 ARC ECR Industry Fellowship (sole CI, $506k) Past Funds: 2020-2022 ACAP Fellowship (sole CI, $429k) 2022-2026 ARC Linkage Project (co-CI, $456k) 2023-2025 ARC DECRA Fellowship (sole CI, $395k) 2023-2026 ARC Discovery Project (co-CI, $410k) 2024-2026 Quantum Infrastructure (co-CI, $723k)

Key Publications

D. He, P. Chen, L. Wang, et al. Homogeneous 2D/3D heterostructured tin halide perovskite photovoltaics. Nature Nanotechnology 2025, 20, 779-786

J. Hou, P. Chen, L. Wang, et al. Liquid-phase sintering of lead halide perovskites and metal-organic framework glasses. Science 2021, 374, 621-625.

H. A. Xu, P. Chen, L. Wang, et al. Lattice‐matched 2D template enables efficient cesium tin halide perovskite solar cells. Advanced Materials 2026, e19143.

D. He, P. Chen, L. Wang, et al. Accelerated redox reactions enable stable tin‐lead mixed perovskite solar cells. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2023, 63, e202317446.

P. Chen, Y. Bai, L. Wang, et al. In situ growth of 2D perovskite capping layer for stable and efficient perovskite solar cells. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2018, 28, 1706923.

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