Dr Alan Dunbar (he/him)

School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering

Senior Lecturer in Energy

Interim Director of Education, Chemical Engineering programme lead

Alan Dunbar
Profile picture of Alan Dunbar
a.dunbar@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 7551
Room G56, Sir Robert Hadfield Building

Full contact details

Dr Alan Dunbar
School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
Room G56
Sir Robert Hadfield Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
Profile

I am a senior lecturer at the University of Sheffield. My research interests are in understanding how processing conditions used during fabrication influence the performance of nanomaterials used in optoelectronic devices such as solar cells and chemical sensors. I aim to use this understanding to improve the performance of these devices.

My early education was in Applied Physics at UMIST (Manchester) where I attained an MPhys in Physics with Electronics and a PhD on the `Preparation and characterisation of Silicon – Germanium quantum dots´ After working as a postdoctoral researcher on projects including carbon nanotubes, metallic nanoclusters, chemical sensors, and organic photovoltaics I was appointed as lecturer in energy in the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering at the University of Sheffield. I have held many leadership roles at department and faculty level as well as externally including First Year Tutor, Postgraduate Research Tutor, Director of Student Support, Facility Access Panel Member (ISIS), Assistant Faculty Director of Learning and Teaching, Academic Director of CDT-PV, Departmental REF Lead, Diamond Peer Review Panel Member (DLS), Department Director of Education and School Chemical Engineering Programme Lead.

Research interests

​​​​​​​Optical and electronic properties of nanoscale materials used in applications such as solar cells and chemical sensors. My research investigates how nanoscale materials can be processed from solution to make functional devices and how the conditions used during that processing influence the performance of the devices. 

  • Perovskite Solar Cells
  • Organic Solar Cells
  • Chemical Sensors
  • Thin Film Solution Processing
  • X-ray and Neutron Scattering
Publications

Journal articles

  • Li X, Meng F, Dunbar A, Zhang L, Hao Y, He T, Yang N, Mao J, Meng F & Liu G (2025) . RSC Sustainability, 3(5), 2286-2300.
  • Patel C, Poizer W, Omole A, Middlemiss LA, Efimov I, Dunbar A, Hart A, Pérez G & Nedoma A (2024) . ECS Meeting Abstracts, MA2024-02(5), 673-673.
  • Bastianini F, Hidalgo AIC, Hook DZ, Smith JA, Cumming D & Dunbar A (2024) . Solar Energy, 268.
  • Urwick AN, Bastianini F, Pérez GE & Dunbar A (2023) . Energy Reports, 9, 5224-5226.
  • Soultati A, Nunzi F, Fakharuddin A, Verykios A, Armadorou KK, Tountas M, Panagiotakis S, Polydorou E, Charisiadis A, Nikolaou V , Papadakis M et al (2022) . Advanced Materials Interfaces, 9(21).
  • Pineda De La O E, Alhazmi N, Ebbens SJ & Dunbar ADF (2021) . ACS Applied Energy Materials, 4(2), 1398-1409.
  • Tsevas K, Smith JA, Kumar V, Rodenburg C, Fakis M, Mohd Yusoff ARB, Vasilopoulou M, Lidzey DG, Nazeeruddin MK & Dunbar ADF (2021) . Chemistry of Materials, 33(2), 554-566.
  • Seddon WD, Alfhaid L, Dunbar ADF, Geoghegan M & Williams NH (2020) . Langmuir, 36(46), 13843-13852.
  • Pérez GE, Alkorbi A, Iraqi A, Bastianini F, Pineda E, King SM & Dunbar ADF (2020) . Journal of Surface Investigation: X-ray, Synchrotron and Neutron Techniques, 14(S1), S60-S68.
  • Pérez GE, Erothu H, Topham PD, Bastianini F, Alanazi TI, Bernardo G, Parnell AJ, King SM & Dunbar ADF (2020) . Advanced Materials Interfaces, 7(18).
  • Alhazmi N, Pineda E, Rawle J, Howse JR & Dunbar ADF (2020) . ACS Applied Energy Materials, 3(7), 6155-6164.
  • Dominguez DA, Dunbar A & Brown S (2020) . Energy Reports, 6(Supplement 5), 132-141.
  • Alshammari AH, Alqahtani Z, Mohd Suah FB, Nizar SA, Dunbar A & Grell M (2020) . Analytica Chimica Acta, 1105, 1-10.
  • Ashkar R, Dalgliesh RM, Pynn R, Dunbar ADF, Jones RAL & Parnell AJ (2020) . Applied Physics Letters, 116(10).
  • Bastianini F, Pérez GE, Hobson AR, Rogers SE, Parnell AJ, Grell M, Gutiérrez AF & Dunbar ADF (2019) . Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 202.
  • Burak H, Dunbar A & Gilmour DJ (2019) . Journal of Applied Phycology, 31(5), 2791-2796.
  • Hynes EL, Cabral JT, Parnell AJ, Gutfreund P, Welbourn RJL, Dunbar ADF, Môn D & Higgins AM (2019) . Communications Physics, 2(1).
  • Alshammari AH, Kirwa A, Dunbar A & Grell M (2019) . Talanta, 199, 40-45.
  • Pérez GE, Bernardo G, Gaspar H, Cooper JFK, Bastianini F, Parnell AJ & Dunbar A (2019) . ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 11(14), 13803-13811.
  • Kumar V, Barbe J, Schmidt WL, Tsevas K, Ozkan B, Handley CM, Freeman CL, Sinclair DC, Reaney IM, Tsoi WC , Dunbar A et al (2018) . Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 6(46), 23578-23586.
  • Bernardo G, Washington AL, Zhang Y, King SM, Toolan D, Weir M, Dunbar A, Howse J, Dattani R, Fairclough J & Parnell AJ (2018) . Royal Society Open Science, 5(9).
  • Evyapan M, Hassan AK & Dunbar ADF (2018) . Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 254, 669-680.
  • Guilbert AAY, Zbiri M, Dunbar ADF & Nelson J (2017) . Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 121(38), 9073-9080.
  • Kwak CK, Barrows AT, Pearson AJ, Lidzey DG & Dunbar ADF (2017) . Journal of Materials Research, 32(9), 1888-1898.
  • Kwak C, Pérez GE, Freestone B, Al-Isaee S, Iraqi A, Lidzey DG & Dunbar A (2016) . Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 4(45), 10722-10730.
  • Barrows AT, Lilliu S, Pearson AJ, Babonneau D, Dunbar ADF & Lidzey DG (2016) . Advanced Functional Materials, 26(27), 4934-4942.
  • Evyapan M & Dunbar ADF (2016) . Applied Surface Science, 362, 191-201.
  • Parnell AJ, Cadby AJ, Dunbar ADF, Roberts GL, Plumridge A, Dalgliesh RM, Skoda MWA & Jones RAL (2016) . Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics, 54(2), 141-146.
  • Brittle S, Desai P, Ng WC, Dunbar A, Howell RJ, Vaclav T & Zimmerman WB (2015) . Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 104, 357-366.
  • Griffin J, Pearson AJ, Scarratt NW, Wang T, Dunbar ADF, Yi H, Iraqi A, Buckley AR & Lidzey DG (2015) . Organic Electronics , 21, 216-222.
  • Wang T, Scarratt NW, Yi H, Coleman IF, Zhang Y, Grant RT, Yao J, Skoda MWA, Dunbar ADF, Jones RAL , Iraqi A et al (2015) . Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 3(16), 4007-4015.
  • Evyapan M & Dunbar ADF (2015) . Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 206, 74-83.
  • Gutiérrez AF, Brittle S, Richardson TH & Dunbar A (2014) . Sensors and Actuators B Chemical, 202, 854-860.
  • Barrows AT, Pearson AJ, Kwak CK, Dunbar ADF, Buckley AR & Lidzey DG (2014) . Energy and Environmental Science, 7(9), 2944-2950.
  • Haq EU, Toolan DTW, Emerson JA, Epps TH, Howse JR, Dunbar ADF & Ebbens SJ (2014) . Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics, n/a-n/a.
  • Pearson AJ, Wang T, Watters DC, Coles DM, Jones RAL, Lidzey DG, Dunbar ADF, Yi H, Iraqi A & Staniec PA (2013) . Advanced Functional Materials.
  • Wang T, Scarratt NW, Yi H, Dunbar ADF, Pearson AJ, Watters DC, Glen TS, Brook AC, Kingsley J, Buckley AR , Skoda MWA et al (2013) . Advanced Energy Materials, 3(4), 410-410.
  • Wang T, Scarratt NW, Yi H, Dunbar ADF, Pearson AJ, Watters DC, Glen TS, Brook AC, Kingsley J, Buckley AR , Skoda MWA et al (2013) . Advanced Energy Materials, 3(4), 505-512.
  • Toolan DTW, Haq EU, Dunbar A, Ebbens S, Clarke N, Topham PD & Howse JR (2013) . Journal of Polymer Science Part B Polymer Physics, 51(11), 875-881.
  • Parnell AJ, Dalgliesh RM, Jones RAL & Dunbar ADF (2013) . Applied Physics Letters, 102(7).
  • Wang T, Pearson AJ, Dunbar AD, Staniec PA, Watters DC, Coles D, Yi H, Iraqi A, Lidzey DG & Jones RA (2012) . European Physics Journal E Soft Matter and Biological Physics, 35(12).
  • Wang T, Pearson AJ, Dunbar ADF, Staniec PA, Watters DC, Yi H, Ryan AJ, Jones RAL, Iraqi A & Lidzey DG (2012) . Advanced Functional Materials, 22(7), 1321-1321.
  • Wang T, Pearson AJ, Dunbar ADF, Staniec PA, Watters DC, Yi H, Ryan AJ, Jones RAL, Iraqi A & Lidzey DG (2012) . Advanced Functional Materials, 22(7), 1399-1408.
  • Brittle SA, Flores A, Hobson A, Parnell AJ, Dunbar ADF, Hunter CA & Richardson TH (2012) . SOFT MATTER, 8(10), 2807-2811.
  • Ebbens S, Hodgkinson R, Parnell AJ, Dunbar A, Martin SJ, Topham PD, Clarke N & Howse JR (2011) . ACS Nano, 5(6), 5124-5131.
  • Staniec PA, Parnell AJ, Dunbar ADF, Yi H, Pearson AJ, Wang T, Hopkinson PE, Kinane C, Dalgliesh RM, Donald AM , Ryan AJ et al (2011) . Adv. Energy Mater., 1(4), 499-504.
  • Brittle SA, Richardson TH, Dunbar ADF, Turega SM & Hunter CA (2011) . J MATER CHEM, 21(13), 4882-4887.
  • Hopkinson PE, Staniec PA, Pearson AJ, Dunbar ADF, Wang T, Ryan AJ, Jones RAL, Lidzey DG & Donald AM (2011) . MACROMOLECULES, 44(8), 2908-2917.
  • Parnell AJ, Cadby AJ, Mykhaylyk OO, Dunbar ADF, Hopkinson PE, Donald AM & Jones RAL (2011) . MACROMOLECULES, 44(16), 6503-6508.
  • Dunbar ADF, Brittle S, Richardson TH, Hutchinson J & Hunter CA (2010) . J Phys Chem B, 114(36), 11697-11702.
  • Richardson TH, Brittle S, Parnell AJ, Fryer A, McCaig T, Hobson A, Dunbar ADF, Hutchinson J & Hunter CA (2010) . SOFT MATTER, 6(14), 3157-3159.
  • Wang T, Dunbar ADF, Staniec PA, Pearson AJ, Hopkinson PE, MacDonald JE, Lilliu S, Pizzey C, Terrill NJ, Donald AM , Ryan AJ et al (2010) . SOFT MATTER, 6(17), 4128-4134.
  • Parnell AJ, Dunbar ADF, Pearson AJ, Staniec PA, Dennison AJC, Hamamatsu H, Skoda MWA, Lidzey DG & Jones RAL (2010) . Adv Mater, 22(22), 2444-2447.
  • Dunbar ADF, Mokarian-Tabari P, Parnell AJ, Martin SJ, Skoda MWA & Jones RAL (2010) . Eur Phys J E Soft Matter, 31(4), 369-375.
  • Brittle S, Richardson TH, Dunbar ADF, Turega S & Hunter CA (2008) . J Phys Chem B, 112(36), 11278-11283.
  • Dunbar ADF, Richardson TH, Hutchinson J & Hunter CA (2008) . SENSOR ACTUAT B-CHEM, 128(2), 468-481.
  • Ayesh AI, Lassesson A, Brown SA, Dunbar ADF, Kaufmann M, Partridge JG, Reichel R & Van Lith J (2007) Experimental and simulational study of the operation conditions for a high transmission mass filter. Review of Scientific Instruments, 78(5).
  • McNaughton AJ, Dunbar A, Barford W & Richardson TH (2007) . Langmuir, 23(4), 1759-1767.
  • Dunbar ADF, Richardson TH, McNaughton AJ, Cadby A, Hutchinson J & Hunter CA (2006) Optical changes induced in Zn porphyrin solutions and LB films by exposure to amines. J PORPHYR PHTHALOCYA, 10(7), 978-985.
  • Dunbar ADF, Richardson TH, McNaughton AJ, Hutchinson J & Hunter CA (2006) . J Phys Chem B, 110(33), 16646-16651.
  • Reichel R, Partridge JG, Dunbar ADF, Brown SA, Caughley O & Ayesh A (2006) Construction and application of a UHV compatible cluster deposition system. Journal of Nanoparticle Research, 8(3-4), 405-416.
  • Dunbar ADF, Partridge JG, Schulze M & Brown SA (2006) Morphological differences between Bi, Ag and Sb nano-particles and how they affect the percolation of current through nano-particle networks. European Physical Journal D, 39(3), 415-422.
  • Partridge JG, Brown SA, Dunbar ADF, Reichel R, Kaufmann M, Siegert C, Scott S & Blaikie RJ (2004) Templated-assembly of conducting antimony cluster wires. Nanotechnology, 15(9), 1382-1387.
  • Halsall MP, Dunbar ADF, Shiraki Y, Miura M & Wells JPR (2004) . Journal of Luminescence, 108(1-4), 329-332.
  • PARTRIDGE J (2004) . Microelectronic Engineering, 73-74, 583-587.
  • Partridge JG, Scott S, Dunbar ADF, Schulze M, Brown SA, Wurl A & Blaikie RJ (2004) Formation of Electrically Conducting Mesoscale Wires Through Self-Assembly of Atomic Clusters. IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology, 3(1 SPEC. ISS.), 61-66.
  • Partridge JG, Brown SA, Siegert C, Dunbar ADF, Nielson R, Kaufmann M & Blaikie RJ (2004) Templated cluster assembly for production of metallic nanowires in passivated silicon V-grooves. Microelectronic Engineering, 73-74, 583-587.
  • Schulze M, Gourley S, Brown SA, Dunbar A, Partridge J & Blaikie RJ (2003) Electrical measurements of nanoscale bismuth cluster films. European Physical Journal D, 24(1-3), 291-294.
  • Dunbar A, Halsall M, Dawson P, Bangert U, Miura M & Shiraki Y (2001) The effect of strain field seeding on the epitaxial growth of Ge islands on Si(001). Applied Physics Letters, 78(12), 1658-1660.
  • Dunbar A, Halsall M, Dawson P, Bangert U, Shiraki Y & Miura M (2001) Strain seeding of Ge quantum dots grown on Si (001). Physica Status Solidi (B) Basic Research, 224(1), 257-260.
  • Dunbar A, Bangert U, Dawson P, Halsall M, Shiraki Y, Miura M, Berbezier I, Joyce BA & Zhang J (2001) Structural, compositional and optical properties of self-organised Ge quantum dots. Physica Status Solidi (B) Basic Research, 224(1), 265-269.
  • Harvey A, Davock H, Dunbar A, Bangert U & Goodhew PJ (2001) Three-dimensional compositional analysis of quantum dots. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 34(4), 636-644.
  • Dunbar ADF, Halsall MP, Bangert U, Harvey A, Dawson P, Joyce BA, Zhang J & Berbezier I (2000) . MRS Proceedings, 638.
  • Gaponenko NV, Sergeev OV, Misiewicz J, Gnaser H, Heiderhoff R, Cramer RM, Balk LJ, Dunbar A & Hamilton B (1999) Erbium photoluminescence in sol-gel derived titanium dioxide films. Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, 3725, 239-242.
  • Halsall MP, Dunbar ADF & Bangert U (1999) Electron diffraction and Raman studies of the effect of substrate misorientation on ordering in the AlGaInP system. Journal of Applied Physics, 85(1), 199-202.
  • Alshammari AH, Alqahtani Z, Suah FBM, Nizar SA, Dunbar A & Grell M () . The 8th International Symposium on Sensor Science, 6(1), 29-29.
  • Parnell AJ, Hobson A, Dalgliesh RM, Jones RAL & Dunbar ADF () . Journal of Visualized Experiments(83).
  • Parnell AJ, Hobson A, Dalgliesh RM, Jones RAL & Dunbar ADF () . Journal of Visualized Experiments(83).

Conference proceedings

  • Bello S, Urwick A, Bastianini F, Nedoma AJ & Dunbar A (2022) . Energy Reports, Vol. 8(11) (pp 89-106). Sheffield, UK, 5 April 2022 - 6 April 2022.
  • Aguilar-Dominguez D, Ejeh J, Brown SF & Dunbar ADF (2022) . Energy Reports, Vol. 8(11) (pp 74-82), 5 April 2022 - 6 April 2022.
  • Urwick AN, Bastianini F, Pérez GE & Dunbar A (2022) . Energy Reports, Vol. 8(Suppl_11) (pp 23-33). Sheffield, UK, 5 April 2022 - 6 April 2022.
  • Aguilar-Dominguez D, Ejeh J, Dunbar ADF & Brown SF (2021) . Energy Reports, Vol. 7(Suppl 2) (pp 71-80). Virtual conference, 12 January 2021 - 13 January 2021.
  • Salehi A, Naderi P, Boroumand FA & Dunbar A (2018) . Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference of Energy Harvesting, Storage, and Transfer (EHST'18) (pp 116-1-116-10). Niagara Falls, Canada, 7 June 2018 - 9 June 2018.
  • Dunbar A, Richardson TH, McNaughton AJ, Barford W, Hutchinson J & Hunter CA (2006) . COLLOIDS AND SURFACES A-PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND ENGINEERING ASPECTS, Vol. 284 (pp 339-344)
  • McNaughton AJ, Richardson TH, Barford W, Dunbar A, Hutchinson J & Hunter CA (2006) . COLLOIDS AND SURFACES A-PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND ENGINEERING ASPECTS, Vol. 284 (pp 345-349)
  • Ayesh AI, Partridge JG, Brown SA, Reichel R & Dunbar ADF (2005) Assembly of bismuth clusters into nanowires using etched V-grooves as templates. Conference on Optoelectronic and Microelectronic Materials and Devices, Proceedings, COMMAD (pp 327-330)
  • Schmelzer Jr. J, Brown SA, Schulze M, Dunbar A, Partridge J, Gourley S, Ramsay B, Wurl A, Hyslop M & Blaikie R (2003) Formation of Nanowires at the Percolation Threshold in Rectangular 2D Systems. Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, Vol. 5055 (pp 189-203)
  • Partridge J, Scott S, Dunbar A, Schulze M, Brown SA, Wurl A & Blaikie R (2003) Formation of electrically conducting mesoscale wires through self-assembly of atomic clusters. Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, Vol. 5118 (pp 411-420)
  • Dunbar ADF, Partridge JG, Schulze M, Scott S & Brown SA (2003) . ICMENS (pp 350-356)
  • Dunbar ADF, Halsall MP, Bangert U, Harvey A, Dawson P, Joyce BA, Zhang J & Berbezier I (2001) Studies of compositional variations in germanium quantum dots grown on silicon. Materials Research Society Symposium - Proceedings, Vol. 638 (pp F1451-F1456)
  • Dunbar A, Hall S, Halsall M & Bangert U (1997) Investigations of ordering in AlGaInP. MICROSCOPY OF SEMICONDUCTING MATERIALS 1997(157) (pp 257-260)
  • Dunbar A, Urwick A, Bello S & Johansson M () . Proceedings of the International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics, 12 May 2024 - 15 May 2024.
  • Johansson MB, Dunbar ADF, Urwick A & Bello S () . Proceedings of the MATSUS Fall 2023 Conference, 16 October 2023 - 20 October 2023.
  • Dunbar A, Tsevas K, Vasilopoulou M, Nazeeruddin M, Lidzey D & Rodenburg C () . Proceedings of the International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics, 19 May 2022 - 25 May 2022.
  • Bello S, Nedoma A & Dunbar A () . Proceedings of the International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics, 19 May 2022 - 25 May 2022.
Teaching activities
  • Programme Lead Chemical Engineering
  • Module Lead CPE451 Low carbon energy, science and technology
  • Module Lead CPE6000 Low carbon energy, science and technology
Professional activities and memberships
  • IOP Member
  • IChemE Associate Member
  • Diamond Light Source Peer Review Panel Member

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