I am a research fellow for the Hatton group in Chemistry, based at the University of Warwick. Currently my research focus is to explore the fabrication of organic and perovskite flexible photovoltaics fabricated in two sections on separate plastic substrates and subsequently laminated together on the roll-to-roll scale. I also am exploring the selective deposition, or in-chamber patterning, of metals on the nanometer scale using flourinated layers printed by slot-dye coating which reject incoming metal atoms during deposition. By this route it is possible to reduce hazardous waste and minimise the raw material cost.

My PhD was awarded (due to the pandemic) in 2021 for which my research focused on the development of copper-based window electrodes and their application in model photovoltaic devices. A significant portion of my thesis is published in three peer-reviewed papers of which I am first author. To facilitate the use of copper on an industrial scale my work involved studying the interfaces of air-exposed polycrystalline thin films using photoelectron spectroscopy among other methods, developing a scalable route to the fabrication of ultra-fine (< 1 μm) grid electrodes and passivating the surface of copper by using capping layers transparent to the transfer of charge.

Before my PhD study, I graduated from the University of Southampton in 2015 with an MChem. For my MChem project I worked with Dr Nuria Garcia-Araez to characterise materials for the lifetime improvement of lithium-sulfur batteries. I then trained as a Secondary Science teacher (Chemistry specialism) through the University of Warwick, graduating with merit.

-Publications-

[1] P. Bellchambers, J. Lee, S. Varagnolo, H. Amari, M. Walker, R. A. Hatton, Front. Mater. 2018, 5, 71.
[2] P. Bellchambers, M. Walker, S. Huband, A. Dirvanauskas, R. A. Hatton, ChemNanoMat 2019, 5, 619.
[3] P. Bellchambers, S. Varagnolo, C. Maltby, R. A. Hatton, ACS Appl. Energy Mater. 2021, 4, 4150.
[4] P. Bellchambers, C. Henderson, S. Abrahamczyk, S. Choi, J-K. Lee, R. A. Hatton, Advanced Materials, 2023.