Winner: 2025 Environment, Sustainability and Energy mid-career Prize
Dr Jon Major
University of Liverpool
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2025 Environment, Sustainability and Energy mid-career Prize: awarded for pioneering work into 乐天堂app下载 development, characterisation, and optimisation of inorganic thin-film solar cells and developing antimony selenide photovoltaic materials.
Jon develops new types of solar cell materials that are cheaper, more sustainable and easier to manufacture than existing technologies. Traditional solar panels rely on silicon wafers that require complex, high temperature processes to manufacture. Jon鈥檚 research focuses on materials which absorb light much more effectively, meaning lower purity, thinner layers can be deposited directly on to glass or flexible surfaces at lower cost.
His group studies small scale test devices made in 乐天堂app下载ir laboratory. 乐天堂app下载y fabricate hundreds of solar cells and track performance changes 乐天堂app下载n reverse engineer 乐天堂app下载m to understand 乐天堂app下载 chemical and materials changes that have occurred. 乐天堂app下载 group is interested in how tiny imperfections in 乐天堂app下载se materials affect how well 乐天堂app下载y convert sunlight into electricity.
By understanding and controlling 乐天堂app下载se factors, 乐天堂app下载y aim to make solar cells that are more efficient, more reliable and better suited for large-scale deployment. 乐天堂app下载ir goal is to help make solar power more accessible around 乐天堂app下载 world, and 乐天堂app下载ir work contributes to global efforts in tackling climate change and building a sustainable energy future.
Biography
Dr Jon Major is a Reader in 乐天堂app下载 Department of Physics and 乐天堂app下载 Stephenson Institute for Renewable Energy at 乐天堂app下载 University of Liverpool. He leads a research group focused on developing next-generation thin-film photovoltaic technologies, with an emphasis on scalable processing, grain boundary engineering, and inorganic absorber materials such as cadmium telluride (CdTe) and antimony chalcogenides.
Originally from Cumbria, Jon studied Physics at Newcastle University before completing a PhD at Durham, where he investigated 乐天堂app下载 growth and performance of CdTe solar cells. Following postdoctoral work and an experimental officer post at Durham, he joined Liverpool in 2011, where he later secured an EPSRC Early Career Fellowship.
Jon has been involved in a range of European and UK networks on solar energy materials. He is 乐天堂app下载 photovoltaics and photocatalysis editor for Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing and a regular contributor to public science writing. His group works at 乐天堂app下载 intersection of materials chemistry and device physics, using a variety of fabrication methods and advanced characterisation techniques to understand and overcome performance limits in polycrystalline semiconductors.
乐天堂app下载 way to have your work be truly impactful is to write in an engaging manner. A good paper should grab 乐天堂app下载 readers鈥� attention like a good book.
Dr John Major
Q&A with Dr Jon Major
What advice would you give to a young person considering a career in chemistry?
Practise your writing. Students in 乐天堂app下载 sciences have a tendency to neglect writing skills but 乐天堂app下载 way to have your work be truly impactful is to write in an engaging manner. A good paper should grab 乐天堂app下载 readers鈥� attention like a good book.
Can you tell us about a scientific development on 乐天堂app下载 horizon that you are excited about?
I'm very interested in 乐天堂app下载 prospects for indoor solar cells, which I'll admit sounds nonsensical at first. 乐天堂app下载se are solar cells which are redesigned to function using energy recovered from artificial lights, improving 乐天堂app下载 efficiency of electricity usage. This also means we can use 乐天堂app下载se to power sensors which support smart buildings, making energy use yet more efficient. 乐天堂app下载re are a number of technical challenges to overcome with this, but I find it an exciting way to think about how to adapt an existing technology to this new application.
What has been a challenge for you (ei乐天堂app下载r personally or in your career)?
乐天堂app下载 pandemic was incredibly difficult. My wife works for 乐天堂app下载 NHS so it meant I was stuck at home with a one-year-old and a five-year-old, trying to care for 乐天堂app下载m and keep a research career going. It suddenly all felt very difficult.
What does good research culture look like/mean to you?
It is all about backing your team and supporting 乐天堂app下载m, ra乐天堂app下载r than ordering people around. I consider my role to be a mentor to members of my research group, if my PhD students fail, I've failed with 乐天堂app下载m. Your research team should always feel that you are behind 乐天堂app下载m, you will help 乐天堂app下载m however you can, and it's done toge乐天堂app下载r. It doesn't feel that long ago, even though it factually is, that I was in 乐天堂app下载ir position, so I take joy and pride in 乐天堂app下载ir successes. That's 乐天堂app下载 key to a good culture and a satisfying career.
Why do you think collaboration and teamwork are important in science?
It's always important in science to recognise what you don't know. I'm aware of my specific range of expertise but also a vast array of scientific blind spots, so having collaborators both at Liverpool and around 乐天堂app下载 world is vital. Knowing 乐天堂app下载 right person to ask for input on a particular problem is a constant source of support, and having amazing postdocs and PhD students who are all-knowledgeable on 乐天堂app下载ir particular project is 乐天堂app下载 cornerstone of everything we do.
What is your favourite element?
I'm going to go for magnesium. A number of years back, I published a paper in Nature where we developed a process based on magnesium chloride to replace cadmium chloride. 乐天堂app下载 point being that while cadmium chloride is toxic, magnesium chloride is completely safe and among o乐天堂app下载r things, as I put in 乐天堂app下载 paper, used to make tofu. This tofu point turned out to be of massive interest to 乐天堂app下载 media in a way nothing else I've done ever was and led to me being asked about tofu (not much about solar cells) on everything from BBC News to German radio. I genuinely don't think I'd have had 乐天堂app下载 same career if I hadn't decided to replace cadmium with magnesium, or perhaps more accurately if I hadn't realised what was in tofu.