Plenary Speakers
Lessons from transient optical studies into metal oxide design for solar driven photoelectrochemistry and photocatalysis
There is increasing interest in harnessing sunlight to drive the synthesis of molecular fuels and chemicals, including in particular water photolysis to yield molecular oxygen and hydrogen. This can be achieved either through the coupling of photovoltaic cells and electrolysis, or through direct sunlight conversion by photoelectrodes or photocatalysts, the latter being the focus of this talk. Metal oxides are the material of choice for most such devices, due to their potential stability to oxidative degradation, low cost and scalability. However for metal oxide based photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic systems for solar energy conversion, a key challenge for efficient operation is the efficient separation and stabilisation of photogenerated charges, and thereby the minimisation of undesired recombination losses. This challenge is particularly great for water splitting systems because of the long charge lifetimes required to drive catalysis. My talk will introduce recent advances in the development of metal oxide photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic devices, and then go on to cover examples of recent work from my group addressing the charge carrier dynamics of these devices which are critical determinants of device efficiency. I will discuss how our kinetic studies give insight into material design, and the opportunities and challenges for technological application of solar driven synthetic chemistry.
Biographical Sketch
James Durrant is Professor of Photochemistry and Sustainable Energy in the Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, following his previous professorial appointments at Imperial College London and the University of Swansea. His research focuses on the use of transient optical spectroscopies to investigate the function of new materials for sustainable energy conversion, focusing in particular on the solar driven synthesis of fuels and chemicals. His group studies a range of inorganic, hybrid and organic materials for applications in artificial photosynthesis, photocatalysis, solar cells and electrolysis. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2017 and appointed a CBE for services to photochemistry and solar energy research in 2022
Discovery and Progress of Perovskite Solar Cells
Since the seminal report of 9.7%-efficient, stable solid-state perovskite solar cells (PSCs) in 2012, perovskite photovoltaics have rapidly evolved into one of the most promising next-generation solar technologies. Intensive research on the optoelectronic properties of organic-inorganic lead halide perovskites has driven a remarkable rise in power conversion efficiency (PCE), with certified values now exceeding 27% in single-junction devices and even higher efficiencies of about 35% in tandem configurations. Achieving such performance requires precise control over precursor solution chemistry, crystallization pathways, defect passivation, and interfacial energetics. In particular, sub-stoichiometric additives and advanced interface materials play key roles in regulating film formation, suppressing non-radiative recombination, and enhancing operational stability. More recently, the field has entered a transformative phase characterized by a broad transition from conventional n-i-p structures to p-i-n architectures, rapid advances in perovskite tandem solar cells, and significant progress in device durability. Despite these achievements, several critical challenges remain for large-scale commercialization, including long-term stability under real-world conditions, scalable manufacturing, materials reliability, and module integration. This talk will highlight key scientific breakthroughs driving advances in efficiency and stability, discuss emerging device architectures and materials strategies, and address the remaining barriers that must be overcome to translate perovskite photovoltaics from laboratory success to industrial deployment.
Biographical Sketch
Nam-Gyu Park is Lifetime Distinguished University Professor in the School of Chemical Engineering and Director of the SKKU Institute of Energy Science and Technology (SIEST) at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU). He received his B.S. degree in chemical education in 1988 and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in chemistry from Seoul National University in 1992 and 1995, respectively. He conducted postdoctoral research at ICMCB-CNRS, France (1996–1997), and at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), USA (1997–1999). Prior to joining SKKU as a full professor in 2009, he served as a senior researcher at the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) from 2000 to 2005 and as director of the Solar Cell Research Center at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) from 2005 to 2009. He is an elected Fellow of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST). His research centers on photovoltaic materials and devices, with nearly three decades of contributions to solar energy science. In 2012, he reported the first long-term stable solid-state perovskite solar cell, lauching the modern era of perovskite photovoltaics. His subsequent work has advanced the understanding of perovskite materials, device physics, crystallization control, and interface engineering, supporting the rapid development of high-efficiency perovskite solar cells. In recognition of his scientific impact, Prof. Park was named a Citation Laureate (top 0.01% scientist) in 2017 and has been included in Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers list (top 1%) from 2017 to 2025. His honors include the Samsung Ho-Am Prize (2018), the Rank Prize (2022, UK), the National Academy of Engineering of Korea Grand Award (2024), Korea’s Top Scientist and Technologist Award (2024), the Eni Award (2024, Italy), the Humboldt Research Award (2025, Germany), and the NIMS Award (2025, Japan). He also serves the scientific community as Senior Editor of ACS Energy Letters.
Carbon Capture Utilization & Storage: Towards Climate Stabilization & Carbon Circularity
Climate stabilization requires management of current and historical CO2 emissions, in parallel with the rapid expansion of renewable and low carbon energy sources. Avoided CO2 emissions – a key ingredient in climate stabilization – can be achieved by carbon capture at point sources, or by substituting fossil energy generation with renewable energy. Negative CO2 emissions – a second necessary ingredient in climate stabilization – are achieved by methodologies that remove CO2 from the atmosphere and oceans. One such technology, direct air capture of CO2 (DAC), is highly scalable but requires further cost-reducing innovation. In this talk, I will discuss the unique challenges associated with DAC and forecast how the future of DAC technology development may evolve in the coming years. CO2 conversion to fuels or chemicals will also be considered, envisioning pathways for carbon circularity.
Biographical Sketch
Professor Jones is the John F. Brock III School Chair and Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Tech. He joined Georgia Tech as an Assistant Professor in 2000 and previously served as Associate Vice President for Research from 2013-2019.
Dr. Jones leads a research group that works on materials, catalysis and adsorption. He is known for his extensive work on materials that extract CO2 from ultra-dilute mixtures such as ambient air, which are key components of direct air capture (DAC) technologies. He has also has produced an extensive body of work in catalysis. Dr. Jones was the founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal, ACS Catalysis, and was Vice-President of the North American Catalysis Society from 2017-2025. Today he leads the open access, multidisciplinary journal, JACS Au, as founding Editor-in-Chief, and serves as the President of the International Adsorption Society.
Jones’ work in both catalysis and CO2 separation has been recognized with awards from numerous organizations including the ACS, AIChE and North American Catalysis Society. Jones was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering in 2022.
Phase Engineering of Nanomaterials (PEN)
In this talk, I will summarize the recent research on phase engineering of nanomaterials (PEN) in my group, particularly focusing on the rational design and synthesis of novel nanomaterials with unconventional phases for various promising applications. For example, by using wet-chemical methods, for the first time, we have successfully prepared novel Au nanostructures (e.g., the hexagonal-close packed (hcp) 2H-Au nanosheets, 4H-Au nanoribbons, and 4H/fcc and fcc/2H/fcc heterophase Au nanorods), epitaxially grown metal nanostructures on the aforementioned unconventional Au nanostructures and 2H-Pd nanoparticles, and amorphous/crystalline heterophase Pd, PdCu, Rh and Rh alloy nanosheets. By using gas-solid reactions, metastable 1T'-phase group VI transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), e.g., WS2, WSe2, MoS2, MoSe2, WS2xSe2(1-x) and MoS2xSe2(1-x), have been prepared. Impressively, the 1T'-MoS2-supported single-atomically dispersed Pt (s-Pt) atoms with Pt loading up to 10 wt% exhibit superior performance in hydrogen evolution reaction. Importantly, 1T'-TMD monolayers can be stabilized on 4H-Au nanowires, which have been used for ultrasensitive SERS detection. Moreover, the salt-assisted 2H-to-1T' phase transformation of TMDs have been achieved, and the phase transformation of TMDs during our developed electrochemical Li-intercalation process has been observed. Impressively, the lithiation-induced amorphization of Pd3P2S8 has been achieved. Currently, my group focuses on the investigation of (crystal) phase-dependent physicochemical properties, functions and applications in catalysis, (opto-)electronic devices, clean energy, chemical and biosensors, surface enhanced Raman scattering, water remediation, photothermal therapy, etc., which we believe are quite unique and very important not only in fundamental studies, but also in future practical applications. Importantly, the concepts of phase engineering of nanomaterials (PEN) is proposed.
Biographical Sketch
Prof. Hua Zhang is the Herman Hu Chair Professor of Nanomaterials and the Director of Hong Kong Institute for Clean Energy in City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK). He has filed 100+ patent applications, and published 600+ papers including Nature and Science papers. As at Apr. 2026, the total cited times are over 150,500 with H-index of 192 (Web of Science), and over 169,000 with H-index of 202 (Google Scholar). He is the co-Editor-in-Chief of SmartMat (2020-) and co-Chairman of the Editorial Board of ChemNanoMat (2015-), and sits on the Advisory Board of more than 40 journals. In 2020, he was elected as a Foreign Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences (EurASc). He was listed in the "Highly Cited Researchers" in Materials Science (Clarivate Analytics/Thomson Reuters, 2014-2025 (12 consecutive years)), in Chemistry (Clarivate Analytics/Thomson Reuters, 2015-2025 (11 consecutive years)), and in Environment and Ecology (Clarivate Analytics, 2022). In 2015, he was listed in 19 “Hottest Researchers of Today” in the world in the World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds 2015 (Thomson Reuters, 2015). In 2014, he was listed in 17 “Hottest Researchers of Today” and No. 1 in Materials and More in the world in the World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds 2014 (Thomson Reuters, 2014). Moreover, he also received the Gold Medal in the 51st International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva (2026, Geneva, Switzerland), Croucher Senior Research Fellowship (2025, Croucher Foundation, Hong Kong), the 2nd Carbon Energy Golden Banyan Award (2025, Carbon Energy, Wiley-VCH), BOCHK Science and Technology Innovation Prize (2024, Hong Kong Alliance of Technology and Innovation), IUMRS-Frontier Materials Scientists Award (2023, IUMRS-ICFM), EcoMat Mid-Career Research Award (2023, Wiley-VCH), Vice-Chancellor’s International Scholar Award (2016, University of Wollongong, Australia), ACS Nano Lectureship Award (2015, American Chemical Society), World Cultural Council (WCC) Special Recognition Award (2013, World Cultural Council), SMALL Young Innovator Award (2012, Wiley-VCH), etc.
Metal-oxide and Graphene Based Functional Nanomaterials for High Performance Optoelectronic Devices
Functional nanomaterials with intrinsically new and tailored properties are key elements for developing of eco-friendly optoelectronic devices such as solar cells, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), printed electronics, semiconductor-based sensors, etc. Recent progress of novel devices designs has led to significant advances in the fundamental understanding of functional nanomaterials. For example, perovskite solar cells have attracted a lot of attention thanks to their high efficiency, low cost, and ease fabrication using solution techniques such as spin-coating and printing. Development of chemical and biological sensors for selectively detecting multiple components in real time still remain a major challenge at the nanotechnology frontier of healthcare. Next generation display devices also require novel functional nanomaterials for reliable and efficient performance that can be easily processed using printing technology. In this talk, functional nanomaterials and composites based on metal, metal oxide and graphene will be lectured for the development of stable and efficient composites-based perovskite solar cells, high performance chemical and biological sensors for simultaneously detecting multi-analytes, and nanoinks of electronic materials for flexible optoelectronic devices.
Biographical Sketch
Professor Yoon-Bong Hahn is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of School of Chemical Engineering at the Jeonbuk National University (JBNU), and Distinguished Research Fellow of the Electronic Materials and Ink, Co., Ltd. He is also Fellow members of the Korea Academy of Science and Technology (KAST), the American Ceramic Society (ACerS), and the International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM). He was recognized as the World's Top 2 % Scientists by Stanford University and Elsevier consecutively in 2020-2025 and as the Top 100 Scientists by the International Biogrphy Center, UK in 2005, 2011, 2014 and 2015. He joined JBNU in 1991, prior to which he worked for LG Metals for 1988-1991 after he received his Ph.D. in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Utah in 1988. His research interest is synthesis of metal oxide nanostructures and graphene-based composites and their applications for solar cells, sensors, and printed elecronics, resulting in over 330 SCI papers (citaions > 20,100 and h-index > 78), 22 patents, and two technology transfers. He aslo authored and edited 7 books including ‘Composites-Based Perovskite Solar Cells’ (Wiley-VCH, 2025), ‘Next-Generation Solar Cells: Principles and Materials’ (Jenny Stanford Publishing, 2024), and ‘Metal Oxide Nanostructures and Their Applications’ (5 volumes, American Scientific Publishers, 2010). He received MCARE Best Research Award 2019 and WooSeongIl Materials Award 2018 by KIChE, Asia Energy Technology Award 2017 by IAAM, Rudolf A. Marcus Award by Science Advances Today in the field of chemical science in 2016, American Ceramic Society Global Ambassador Award by ACerS in 2016, the Scientist of the Month Award by Korea Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in 2011, the CBNU’s Best Research Professor Award consecutively in 2008-2010, and other numerous scientific awards.
Keynote Speakers
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Dunwei WangBoston College, USA -
Honjin FanNTU, Singapore
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Akihiko KudoTokyo University of Science, Japan
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Jia-Qi HuangBeijing Institute of Technology, China
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Ping LiuUniversity of California, San Diego, United States
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Yijin LiuUniversity of Texas as Austin, United States
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Atsuo YamadaThe University of Tokyo, Japan
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Marina FreitagNewcastle University, UK
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Sang-Hoon BaeWashington University, USA
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Chuan ZhaoUNSW sydney, Australia
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Xu Jason ZhichuanNanyang Technological University, Singapore
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Sang Hoon JooSeoul National University, Republic of Korea
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Shaio-Wei KuoNational Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan
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Ravi SilvaUniversity of Surrey, UK
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Alexandr N. SimonovMonash University, Austrailia
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Ifan StephensImperial College London, UK
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Ping ChenDalian Institute of Chemical Physics (CAS), China, China
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Numpon InsinChulalongkorn University, Thailand
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Hunter McdanielUbiQD, USA
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Wan Ki BaeSungkyunkwan University, Republic of Korea
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Christopher W. JonesGeorgia Institute of Technology, USA
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Surachate ChalothornSCG Chemicals Public Company Limited, Thailand
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Hong Jin FanNanyang Technological University, Singapore
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Jyh Ming WuNational Tsing Hua University, Taiwan
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Zhifeng JiangInstitute for Energy Research, Jiangsu University, China
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Chularat WattanakitPHCC, VISTEC, Thailand
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Feiyan XuChina University of Geosciences (Wuhan), China
Invited Speakers
* Invited Speakers listed in Alphabetical order of their last name.
Kee Hwan Kim The Catholic University of Korea, Korea
| Liver Debate Conversion surgery vs. Liver transplantation after successful downstaging in advanced HCC | |
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| Role | Panel |
| Date & Time | March 26 (Thu), 13:00-14:00 |
| Place | Room 1 | West (B1F) |
| Presentation Time | 13:30-14:00 |
| Lecture Title |
Panel Discussion
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