The Research and Postgraduate Centre congratulates Ts. Asst. Prof. Dr. Haw Choon Yian from the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering for being awarded the Best Paper Award (Advanced Materials and Surfaces Characterisation) at the 15th International Conference on Materials Processing and Characterization (ICMPC) held at Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom from 5 to 9 September 2023.
The conference was operated in hybrid mode (onsite and online), covering eight (8) thematic areas of research. A total of 258 delegates and presenters from countries and regions including Germany, Sweden, Italy, United Kingdom, South Africa, India, and China participated in the event.
In his research entitled “Materials Advancements & Structural Design towards High Efficiency Photothermal Interfacial Solar Steam Generation”, the authors empirically reported solar steam generation (SSG) emerging research in recent years as one of the countermeasures for solving the increasing risk of water insecurity on a global scale. SSG outshines conventional water treatment technologies with solar energy being its primary energy drive, as well as its relatively simple system design. The challenges have been addressed for SSG, particularly on the low efficiency of the steam generation and dubious economic feasibility. Specifically, the content covers recent works developed by the research group in designing a comprehensive engineering framework in terms of photothermal materials selection, structural design that enhances multiple light entrapments in photoabsorber, and a myriad of SSG installation methods, that has led to higher solar-to-thermal conversion efficiency. The authors also highlighted the latest research developments and the associated effective characterization techniques employed in the study of photothermal SSG and other promising applications.