Background

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Google Scholar | Web of Science | ORCID | ResearchGate​

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​​Citations: > 2,800 | h-index: 27 | i10-index: 39 | Number of Publications: > 60

(may not be up to date)

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Dr. Top Archie Dela Peña is a Research Fellow at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. He holds a Ph.D. in Advanced Materials from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), during which he was also appointed as a researcher at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia. His doctoral achievements include the Guangdong-China Outstanding International Doctoral Student Award (twice) and the Overseas Research Award Grant. He earned his MPhil in Nano Science and Technology at HKUST and graduated with a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering as magna cum laude, ranking in the top 1% of the entire graduating batch by GPA.

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His current research focuses on organic electronics and emerging semiconducting materials for energy and sustainability. Dr. Dela Peña has made significant contributions to the field, with publications in top-tier journals such as Nature Materials, Energy & Environmental Science, Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, and others. He is also serving as a peer reviewer for ACS Journals, Nano Energy, Chemical Engineering Journal, and more. He is also the coordinating guest editor for a special issue at Carbon Energy, focusing on "Materials for Sustainable Solar Energy". Likewise, he is an Editorial Board at Springer Nature's Discover Materials and Youth Editorial Board at KeAi's Materials Science for Energy Technologies. Furthermore, he is also a co-editor and chapter author of a book on solution-processable solar cells, which is currently under preparation in collaboration with Springer Nature.​​​​​​

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Recognition and Awards​

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• 2024 Outstanding International PhD Student Award, Guangdong-China

• 2023 Outstanding International PhD Student Award, Guangdong-China

• 2024 Overseas Research Award, UNSW, Australia

• 2024 Research Travel Grant, HKUST(GZ)

• 2024 PVSEC-35 Student Research Oral Presentation Award, Japan

• 2022 Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Scholarship, Canada

• 2020 Academy of Science Visiting Research Scholarship, Taiwan R.O.C.

• 2019 Visiting Research Scholarship Award, KAUST, KSA

• 2019 Visiting Research Scholarship Award, GIST, South Korea

• Top 1% (by GPA) in the 2019 Graduation Batch (Undergraduate Programs)

• 2014-2019 BSc (Engineering) President's List Award

• 2014-2019 BSc (Engineering) Dean's List Award

• 2018 Global Engineering Leadership Award, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan​

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​Academic Specializations

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• Principles of Organic Electronic Materials and Devices

• Physical Chemistry

• Introduction to Optoelectronics

• Principles of Chemical Science / General Chemistry

• Thermodynamics and Chemical Reaction Kinetics

• Differential Calculus, Integral Calculus, and Applications

• Mathematical Foundation for Science and Engineering Research

• Spectroscopy of Emerging Photovoltaic Materials​​​​​​​

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Journal Reviewer

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• Nano Energy

• Chemical Engineering Journal

• ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

• ACS Applied Energy Materials

• Bioresource Technology Reports

• Chemical Engineering Science​

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Guest Editor

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• Wiley, Carbon Energy (IF: 24.2) - Materials for Sustainable Solar Energy (accepting submissions in 2026)

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Editorial Board Member

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• Springer Nature, Discover Materials

• Springer Nature, Discover Sustainability

• KeAi, Materials Science for Energy Technologies

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Selected Publications​

 

Review (Corresponding)​​​

• Organic Semiconductors: A Versatile Next-Generation Photovoltaics Technology. Information & Functional Materials, 2025, accepted [invited]

• Latest Strategies Promoting Stable and Efficient Perovskite, Organic, and Perovskite-Organic Tandem Solar Cells.  Adv. Mater. Interfaces, 2025, 2500204 [invited]

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Review (First Author)​​​

• Advancing Organic Photovoltaics Processed from Green-Solvents: From Characterization Methods to Optimization Strategies. EnergyChem, 2025, 100162 [2025 IF: 25.2]

 

​Article (Corresponding)​​​

• Optimizing the Impacts of Solid Additives on the Operational Stability and Processing Reliability of Organic Solar Cells. Materials Today (Communications), 2025, 48, 113584

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​Article (First Author)​​​

• Tailoring short-range mobility at donor–acceptor heterointerfaces through small molecules promotes efficient organic solar cells. Energy & Environmental Sci., 2025, in-press  [2025 IF: 30.8]

• Interface Property-Functionality Interplay Suppresses Bimolecular Recombination Facilitating Above 18% Efficiency Organic Solar Cells Embracing Simplistic Fabrication. Energy & Environmental Sci., 2023, 16, 3416-3429 [2023 IF: 39.714]

• Understanding the Charge Transfer State and Energy Loss Trade-offs in Non-fullerene-Based Organic Solar Cells. ACS Energy Letters, 2021, 6, 10, 3408–341 [2021 IF: 23.99]

• Manipulating the Charge Carriers through Functionally Bridged Components Advances Low-Cost Organic Solar Cells with Green Solvent Processing. Advanced Energy Materials, 2024, 14, 2303169 [2024 IF: 29.698]

• Efficient all-small-molecule organic solar cells processed with non-halogen solvent. Nature Communications, 2024, 15, 1946 [2024 IF: 16.6]

• Defining Solid Additive’s Pivotal Role on Morphology Regulation in Organic Solar Cells Produced by Layer-by-layer Deposition. Advanced Energy Materials, 2024, 2400354 [2024 IF: 29.69]

• Step-by-step Modulation of Crystalline Features and Exciton Kinetics of > 19.2% Efficiency Ortho-xylene Processed Organic Solar Cells. Nano-Micro Letters, 2024, 16, 30 [2024 IF: 23.655]​​​​

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