Next-Generation Materials and Devices for Indoor Photovoltaic Energy Harvesting
Open Call for Papers until 16 November 2026
We are delighted to announce this open call for papers to contribute to a themed collection for Journal of Materials Chemistry C on Next-Generation Materials and Devices for Indoor Photovoltaic Energy Harvesting, guest edited by Prof. Paola Vivo (Tampere University, Finland), Dr. Suraj Soman (CSIR-NIIST, Thiruvananthapuram, India) and Dr. Renaud Demadrille (CEA-IRIG, Université Grenoble-Alpes, France).
Scope
As buildings account for almost 40% of global energy consumption and around 36% of greenhouse gas emissions, improving energy efficiency is critical. Smart buildings address this challenge by using digitalisation and automation to monitor and optimise energy usage in systems such as heating, lighting, and air-conditioning. This relies on the collection and processing of real-time data from interconnected Internet of Things (IoT) sensors. However, powering large-scale IoT sensor networks remains a key limitation. Reliance on external power supplies and batteries leads to high maintenance costs, an increased carbon footprint and limited scalability.
Indoor photovoltaic (IPV) technology is emerging as a promising solution to this problem. By harvesting energy from indoor lighting or sunlight through windows, IPV enables IoT sensors to operate autonomously and without batteries. This reduces maintenance requirements and environmental impact while enhancing the scalability and sustainability of smart building infrastructures.
This themed collection, “Next-Generation Materials and Devices for Indoor Photovoltaic Energy Harvesting”, will bring together recent advances in this area. It will cover the development of organic, hybrid and inorganic materials, the characterisation and optimisation of their structure-property-performance relationships, strategies for device integration, advanced characterisation techniques and key aspects of sustainability.
Submissions to the journal should contain chemistry in a materials context and should fit within the scope of Journal of Materials Chemistry C. Please see the journal website for more information on the journal scope, standards, article types and author guidelines.
Submit your high-quality research
This call for papers is open for the following article types:
- Communications
- Full papers
If you would like to contribute to this themed collection, you can submit your article directly to the online submission service for Journal of Materials Chemistry C. Please mention that this submission is a contribution to the Next-Generation Materials and Devices for Indoor Photovoltaic Energy Harvesting collection in the “Themed issues” section of the submission form and add a “Note to the Editor” that this is from the Open Call. The Editorial Office reserves the right to check suitability of submissions in relation to the scope of both the journal and the collection, and inclusion of accepted articles in the final themed issue is not guaranteed.
Please also note that all submissions will be subject to initial assessment and rigorous peer review to meet the usual high standards of Journal of Materials Chemistry C.
If you have any questions about the journal or the collection, then we would be happy to answer them.
Guest Editors
Prof. Paola Vivo (Tampere University, Finland)
Paola Vivo is a Full Professor of Materials Chemistry at the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences at Tampere University (TAU), Finland. She earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry from Tampere University of Technology in 2010 and has nearly twenty years of expertise in solution‑processed organic and inorganic semiconductors for emerging photovoltaic technologies. During her career, she has secured several major competitive research grants as Principal Investigator, including the prestigious Academy of Finland Postdoctoral Fellowship (2013–2017). She leads the Hybrid Solar Cells research group at TAU, advancing optoelectronic technologies to address sustainability challenges through a chemistry‑driven approach focused on novel solution‑processed semiconductors. Her research focuses on developing sustainable and stable perovskite‑inspired materials for both indoor and outdoor photovoltaic applications. She also coordinates MENTOR, a Marie‑Skłodowska‑Curie Doctoral Network funded by the European Commission and dedicated to advancing indoor photovoltaics and training the next generation of researchers in this rapidly evolving field. Additionally, she serves as Associate Editor of Optical Materials (Elsevier), Editorial Board Member of Scientific Reports (Springer), and Guest Editor for several journals, including Solar RRL (Wiley).
Dr. Suraj Soman (CSIR-NIIST, Thiruvananthapuram, India)
Dr. Suraj Soman is a Principal Scientist at the Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies (C-SET), CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR-NIIST), India. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Dublin City University, Ireland, in 2011, followed by postdoctoral research positions at Michigan State University, USA, until 2014. He began his independent research career at CSIR-NIIST in 2014 and has since been leading research in next-generation photovoltaic technologies.
His research focuses on harvesting and recycling indoor and ambient light using third-generation molecular photovoltaic technologies, particularly dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) and perovskite solar cells (PSCs). His group works at the interface of molecular design, device engineering, and equipment development, translating fundamental laboratory discoveries into practical solutions for emerging applications such as indoor photovoltaics and self-powered electronic systems.
He has authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications in the field of molecular solar cells and has received several prestigious recognitions, including the Solar Challenge Award from the Department of Science and Technology (India), the Scientific High Level Visiting Award from the Government of France, CSIR Young Scientist Award, INSA Medal for Young Scientists, and Kerala State Young Scientist Award.
His team has also established a state-of-the-art automated pilot facility for the fabrication of indoor solar modules at NIIST and has successfully demonstrated multiple field deployments of indoor photovoltaic devices for practical applications.
Dr. Renaud Demadrille (CEA-IRIG, Université Grenoble-Alpes, France)
Renaud Demadrille is a Senior Researcher and Director of Research at the Interdisciplinary Research Institute of Grenoble (IRIG), part of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), France. He earned his PhD in organic chemistry in 2000 from University of Aix-Marseille II, supported by fellowships from PPG Industries and Essilor International. After completing his PhD, he worked as a junior research engineer at the R&D center of an international chemical company before joining the CEA as a postdoctoral fellow. In 2005, he was appointed to a permanent research position at CEA-Grenoble within the Fundamental Research Division.
His research centers on the design, synthesis, and characterization of novel π-conjugated molecules and macromolecules for applications in organic and hybrid photovoltaics, as well as in (opto)electronic devices. Over the course of his career, he has received numerous distinctions, including an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) in 2019, the “Innovation in Chemistry for Energy Prize” from the Société Chimique de France (SCF), and the “Ivan Peychès Prize” from the French Academy of Sciences. In 2025, his team was awarded the “Materials Chemistry Horizon Prize: Stephanie L. Kwolek Prize” by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). That same year, he received a Fulbright Scholarship to develop a research program at Georgia Institute of Technology (USA).
Since 2020, he has served as an Associate Editor for Materials Advances and Journal of Materials Chemistry C, both published by the Royal Society of Chemistry.
