Professor Alex Jen Kwan-yue

Professor Alex Jen Kwan-yue is Chair Professor of Materials Science and Director of the Hong Kong Institute for Clean Energy at the City University of Hong Kong (CityU). His expertise includes the use of molecular engineering and self-assembly for hybrid materials.

Professor Alex Jen Kwan-yue is Lee Shau Kee Chair Professor of Materials Science and Director of the Hong Kong Institute for Clean Energy, which he founded at City University of Hong Kong (CityU), as well as Chair Professor of Chemistry and Materials Science in the same university. He also serves in other capacities at CityU:

  • Chair Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering
  • Chair Professor, School of Energy and Environment
  • Chair Professor, Department of Chemistry
  • Affiliate Chair Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering

His interdisciplinary research covers molecular engineering methods and self assembly to develop and tailor organic/hybrid functional materials and devices for photonics, energy, sensors, and nanomedicine. 

He completed his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania, U.S. Before moving to CityU, he was Chair of the Department of Materials Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, where he established the Institute of Advanced Materials for Energy (i-AME). He then served as Chief Scientist for the Clean Energy Institute endowed by the Washington State Governor.

For his pioneering contributions in organic photonics and electronics, Professor Jen was elected as an Academician by the European Academy of Sciences and the Washington State Academy of Sciences. He is also a Fellow of several professional societies and served on the editorial and advisory boards of several journals, including IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics and ACS Chemistry of Materials.

His prolific scholarly work has led to various awards and accolades. In 2018, he was included in the Times Higher Education’s “Top 10 university researchers in Perovskite Solar Cell Research”. Thomson Reuters named him as one of the “World's Most Influential Scientific Minds" in 2015 and 2016. In addition, he has been a "Highly Cited Researcher" in Materials Science by Clarivate Analytics from 2014 to 2022.

Apart from research work, Professor Jen also served as Provost at CityU. He also co-founded five start-up companies and has over 60 patents and inventions to his name. 

Selected links:

Selected publications

  • ORCID
  • SCOPUS
  • Google Scholar
  • Jen, A. KY. et al. Binary Microcrystal Additives Enabled Antisolvent-Free Perovskite Solar Cells with High Efficiency and Stability. Advanced Energy Materials. Vol 13 Issue 7 (2023). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.202203649 
  • Jen, A. KY. et al. Suppressed recombination loss in organic photovoltaics adopting a planar–mixed heterojunction architecture. Nat Energy 7, 1076–1086 (2022). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-022-01138-y
  • Jen, A. KY. et al. The Crystalline Behavior and Device Function of Nonfullerene Acceptors in Organic Solar Cells. Advanced Energy Materials Volume 12 Issue 34, 2201338 (2022). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.202201338
  • Jen, A. KY. et al. Advances and challenges in understanding the microscopic structure–property–performance relationship in perovskite solar cells. Nat Energy Volume 7, 794–807 (2022). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-022-01096-5

City University of Hong Kong (CityU)
Alex Jen Kwan-yue

Websites

Role: 
Director and Chair Professor
Department: 
Hong Kong Institute for Clean Energy
Languages: 
Chinese
English
Academic disciplines: 
Materials Science and Engineering
Polymer chemistry
News topics: 
Energy
Innovation
Materials
Technology