Steve Albrecht is one of the “Highly Cited Researchers 2023”
Only a few researchers manage to become internationally recognised in their field. Perovskite researcher Steve Albrecht is one of them, in particular because his team did contribute to several world records for silicon perovskite tandem solar cells. © M. Setzpfandt / HZB
Every year, countless articles are published in specialist journals. The information service provider Clarivate uses a recognised method to measure the influence of the published articles on the respective subject area. According to this year's evaluation, HZB researcher Steve Albrecht is one of the most "highly cited researchers" having a significant influence on his field. Albrecht and his team have been involved in several world records for tandem solar cells in recent years and have published the results in high-ranking scientific journals.
Only one in 1000 active researchers belongs to the circle of “Highly Cited Researchers”. Over the past ten years, those selected have produced a number of excellent publications that other work can build on and which are therefore frequently cited. However, citation activity is not the only selection indicator, writes Clarivate, a company that analyses the Web of Science: For example, publications that show evidence of citation cartels or self-citations have been weeded out. This year, 6,849 researchers from 68 countries and regions were honoured.
From the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, Prof. Dr Steve Albrecht was identified as a “Highly Cited Researcher”. Albrecht leads a team researching perovskite materials for solar cells. Together with other groups at HZB and partner institutions, he has set several world records for the efficiency of tandem solar cells. His research is widely recognised, as evidenced by the “Highly Cited Researchers” award, and is making a significant contribution to the advancement of research in solar energy.
Note: HZB researcher Antonio Abate is also one of the "Highly Cited Researchers 2023", albeit not as an HZB researcher, but with an affiliation to one of his previous academic stations. Abate is also researching perovskite solar cells, which makes HZB perovskite research visible worldwide.
- Battery research: visualisation of aging processes operandoLithium button cells with electrodes made of nickel-manganese-cobalt oxides (NMC) are very powerful. Unfortunately, their capacity decreases over time. Now, for the first time, a team has used a non-destructive method to observe how the elemental composition of the individual layers in a button cell changes during charging cycles. The study, now published in the journal Small, involved teams from the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), the University of Münster, researchers from the SyncLab research group at HZB and the BLiX laboratory at the Technical University of Berlin. Measurements were carried out in the BLiX laboratory and at the BESSY II synchrotron radiation source.
- New instrument at BESSY II: The OÆSE endstation in EMILA new instrument is now available at BESSY II for investigating catalyst materials, battery electrodes and other energy devices under operating conditions: the Operando Absorption and Emission Spectroscopy on EMIL (OÆSE) endstation in the Energy Materials In-situ Laboratory Berlin (EMIL). A team led by Raul Garcia-Diez and Marcus Bär showcases the instrument’s capabilities via a proof-of-concept study on electrodeposited copper.
- Solar cells on moon glass for a future base on the moonFuture settlements on the moon will need energy, which could be supplied by photovoltaics. However, launching material into space is expensive – transporting one kilogram to the moon costs one million euros. But there are also resources on the moon that can be used. A research team led by Dr. Felix Lang of the University of Potsdam and Dr. Stefan Linke of the Technical University of Berlin have now produced the required glass from ‘moon dust’ (regolith) and coated it with perovskite. This could save up to 99 percent of the weight needed to produce PV modules on the moon. The team tested the radiation tolerance of the solar cells at the proton accelerator of the HZB.