Personal Biography

Having never quite been able to choose between Chemistry and Physics as an undergraduate, I hold degrees in both Chemistry and Physics (BSc. Hons) from the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago. In 2011, my fascination with renewable energy technologies brought me to Oxford to pursue a DPhil in Condensed Matter Physics focusing largely on hybrid solar cells. After finishing my DPhil, I stayed on as a postdoctoral researcher before moving to Princeton University in 2017 to take up an individual Materials Science Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Princeton Center for Complex Materials. In early 2021, I was awarded an EPSRC Early Career Fellowship and returned to Oxford Physics to establish an independent research group focusing on developing an understanding of the materials chemistry that underpins the optoelectronic properties hybrid semiconductor systems.

Research and Teaching

My research sits at the intersection of chemistry, solid-state physics and materials science, and is geared towards developing insight into the fundamental processes governing thin-film crystallisation and defect formation in solution-processable semiconductors. My current focus is understanding the solution chemistry and colloid physics of halide perovskite precursor inks, and how the nature of these inks affects the crystallisation kinetics, defect formation, and optoelectronic properties of the resultant thin-films. Generating these insights will allow the field to further improve the quality of the perovskite materials which are currently used, as well as provide important guidelines for developing new solvent systems and deposition modalities for these, and similar, solution-processable energy materials. The overarching goal is to leverage the fundamental chemical insights gained into practical applications, namely the development of high-performance optoelectronic devices.

I have previously supervised and demonstrated undergraduate laboratory sessions in general and inorganic Chemistry, as well as first and third year Physics. I’ve also designed and delivered lectures for the CDT in New and Sustainable Photovoltaics.

Selected Publications

  1. The Crystalline Nature of Colloids in Methylammonium Lead Halide Perovskite Precursor Inks Revealed by Cryo-Electron Microscopy. N.S. Dutta, N. K. Noel, C. B. Arnold. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2020, DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c01975.
  2. Interfacial Charge-Transfer Doping of Metal Halide Perovskites for High Performance Photovoltaics. N.K. Noel, S.N. Habisreutinger, A. Pellaroque, F. Pulvirenti, B. Wenger, F. Zhang, Y. H. Lin, O. Reid, J. Leisen, Y. Zhang, S. Barlow, S. R. Marder, A. Kahn, H. J. Snaith, C B. Arnold, B. P. Rand. Energy Environ. Sci., 2019, 12, 3063 – 3073.
  3. Charge-transfer Cascade through SWNT Composites Enabling Low Voltage-Losses in Perovskite Solar Cells. S.N. Habisreutinger, N.K. Noel, O. Reid, J. L. Blackburn. ACS Energy Letters, 2019, 4, 1872-1879
  4. Unveiling the Influence of pH on the Crystallisation of Hybrid Perovskites, Delivering Low Voltage Loss Photovoltaics. N.K. Noel, M. Congiu, A. J. Ramadan, S. Fearn, D. P. McMeekin, J.B. Patel, M.B, Johnston, B. Wenger, H.J. Snaith. Joule 2017, 1, (2), 328-343
  5. Enhanced Photoluminescence and Device Performance via Lewis Base passivation in Organic-Inorganic Lead Halide Perovskites. N.K. Noel, A. Abate, S.D. Stranks, E.S. Parrott, V.M. Burlakov, A. Goriely, H.J. Snaith. ACS Nano, 2014, 8 (10), pp 9815–9821

A complete list of publications can be found here.