Scientists at The Australian National University (ANU), which received $3.6 million in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) in January as part of the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics Infrastructure project, have discovered something interesting about the potential of ultra-thin 2D materials. 

Back in 2019, Hieu Nguyen and PhD candidate Mike Tebyetekerwa demonstrated the maximum potential of ultra-thin 2D materials to generate electricity using sunlight for the first time. This is to say, materials thin as a single atom capable of harvesting solar energy, a technology that could revolutionise the solar industry as well as many other industries besides. 

Last week, the two ANU scientists published a study in “Cell Reports Physical Science” in which they demonstrate a curious and exciting observation – that the ability of these ultra-thin materials to convert sunlight into electricity can be controlled by “twisting” the angle between two layers of the material. 

Read the full article on the PV Magazine, featuring Dr Hieu Nguyen and PhD Candidate Mike Tebyetekerwa