Background

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Google Scholar | Web of Science | ORCID | ResearchGate​

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​​Citations: > 2,200 | h-index: 22 | i10-index: 33 | Number of Publications: > 50

(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 and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia. His doctoral achievements include the Guangdong-China Outstanding International Doctoral Student Award and the Overseas Research Award Grant. He earned his MPhil in Nano Science and Technology at HKUST and graduated 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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Dr. Dela Peña has held visiting research positions at prestigious institutions such as National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, and Academia Sinica in Taiwan.

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His current research focuses on organic electronics and emerging semiconducting materials for energy and sustainability. Dr. Dela Peña has significantly contributed to the field, with publications in top-tier journals like Nature Materials, Energy & Environmental Science, Nature Communications,  Advanced Materials, and more. He has also served as a peer reviewer for some leading journals, including Nano Energy.

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Current Projects

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• Design Principles for the Next Generation of Solution-Processable Solar Cell Materials Cultivating Cost-Effective and Reliable Devices to Prompt Industrial Feasibility

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Recognitions 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 for Engineers

• Molecular Physical Chemistry

• Principles of Chemical Science

• Fundamentals of General Physics 1

• Calculus and Its Applications

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Journal Reviewer

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• Nano Energy (2025 IF: 17.6)

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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)​​​

• 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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