Dr Alan Dunbar
Lecturer in Energy
Energy and Environmental Engineering Group
Tel: +44 (0)114 222 7551
Fax: +44 (0)114 222 7501
email : a.dunbar@sheffield.ac.uk
Chemical and Biological Engineering
The University of Sheffield
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
Research Interests
- Polymer Based Solar Cells
- Experimental techniques to characterise nano-scale phase separation in polymers
- Thin film toxic gas sensors
- Electrical properties of nano-structured systems
Biography
Alan Dunbar attained an MPhys in Physics with Electronics at UMIST (Manchester) in 1997, and also his PhD entitled `Preparation and characterisation of Silicon – Germanium quantum dots´ in 2001 under the supervision of Dr M. Halsall. After his PhD, Alan moved to the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand to work for two years with Assoc. Prof. Simon Brown investigating the electrical properties of metallic nano-particles. He applied percolation theory to explain the onset of conduction in thin films of deposited nano-particles in conjunction with morphological data obtained by atomic force microscopy and electron microscopy.
Alan then returned to the UK to begin working in the University of Sheffield (Department of Physics and Astronomy) where he developed gas sensors for volatile organic compounds with Dr T. Richardson. The porphyrin based gas sensors undergo strong colour changes upon exposure to specific toxic gases which co-ordinate to the porphyrin as axial ligands.
Alan then took up a research post working with Prof. R. Jones FRS and Prof D Lidzey focused on the optimization of polymer based solar cells through understanding how the nano-scale morphology of the thin polymer films wthin the devices influences the device efficiency. This involved in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry and x-ray reflectivity to investigate the development of phase separation during the deposition of the thin films of solar cell materials.
In 2009 he was appointed as lecturer in energy in the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering at the University of Sheffield, and in 2010 he took on the role of first year tutor. He is currently in the process of establishing an active research group within the department.
Key Papers
- The development of nanoscale morphology in polymer-fullerene, pholtovoltaic blends during solvent casting - Tao Wang, Alan D. F. Dunbar, Paul A. Staniec, Andrew J. Pearson, Paul Hopkinson, Samuele Lilliu, J. Emyr MacDonald, Claire Pizzey, Nicholas J. Terrill, Athene M. Donald, Anthony J. Ryan, Richard A. L. Jones and David G. Lidzey - Soft Matter, 2010, 6, 4128-4134
- Macroscopic manifestation of a vapour-induced molecular switching phenomenon - T.H. Richardson, S. Brittle, A. J. Parnell, A. Fryer, T. McCaig, A. Hobson, A.D.F. Dunbar, J. Hutchinson and C.A. Hunter, Soft Matter, 2010 (14),3157-3159 SM-COM-03-2010-000133
- Depletion of PCBM at the cathode interface in P3HT/PCBM thin films as quantified via Neutron Reflectivity measurements - Andrew J. Parnell, Alan D. F. Dunbar, Andrew J. Pearson, Paul Staniec, A. J. C. Dennison, G. Lidzey and Richard A. L. Jones, Advanced Materials Volume 222, Issue 22, pages 2444-2447, June 11, 2010 adma.200903971
- A solution concentration dependent transition from self stratification to lateral phase separation in spin-case PS:d-PMMA thin films - A.D.F. Dunbar, P. Mokarian-Tabari, A.J. Parnell, S.J. Martin, M.W.A. Skoda and R.A.L. Jones, European Physical Journal E (2010) DOI: 10.1140/epie/i2010-10592-4
- Investigation of free base, Mg, Sn and Zn substituted porphyrin LB films as gas sensors for organic analytes - A.D.F. Dunbar, T.H. Richardson, A.J. McNaughton, J. Hutchinson and C.A. Hunter. J. Phys. Chem. B (2006); 110(33); 16646-16651. DOI: 10.1021/jp0626059
Teaching
- CPE430/ CPE6000 Low Carbon Energy, Science and Technology
- CPE1002 Chemical Engineering Design (Chemical Process Principles 1)
- CPE210 Applied Chemical Engineering (Chem Eng Lab)