Elena Akulenko
M.Sc. (Tech.)
elena.akulenko@utu.fi : P78 |
Solar cells, recycling, environment, circular economy, innovation management, regulations
Developing eco-design for solar cells to support their recycling.
Being a registered Patent Attorney with 10+ years’ experience in patent law and IP management, I pursue a PhD in Materials Engineering at University of Turku. Originally, I received a master’s degree in Chemistry from Saint-Petersburg State University in 2009. Then I successfully passed a master's programme on Global Management of Innovation and Technology from LUT University in 2020. This unique background both in chemistry and business areas supports my current research on profitable and feasible recycling of solar cells under supervision of Professor Kati Miettunen.
The aim of my research is to create recyclable structures for different solar technologies to 1) prevent release of toxic chemicals to environment and 2) enable retrieval of critical and rare materials from degraded devices. The recycling of silicon solar technologies struggles with commercial viability and emerging high performance, low-cost technologies such as perovskite solar cells contain, e.g. lead. I develop insight on materials side to guide research towards sustainable solar cell structures as well as build demonstrations of solar cell eco-designs. Besides technical feasibility, it is pivotal to reach economic profitability of recycling to ensure maximum global impact.
Patenting in the field of Chemistry
- Bio‐based materials for solar cells (2024)
- Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment
- Feasibility and greenhouse gas emissions of timber structures in solar photovoltaic carport construction (2024)
- Frontiers in built environment
- Bottlenecks in Perovskite Solar Cell Recycling (2023)
- Proceedings of the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition
- Eco-design for perovskite solar cells to address future waste challenges and recover valuable materials (2023)
- Heliyon
- Worldwide Digital Twins development: a patent landscape study (2020) Akulenko Elena, Kutvonen Antero, Hannola Lea
- Calixarenes functionalized with phosphine oxide and diamide functions as extractants and ionofores for rare-earth metals (2010)
- Journal of Inclusion Phenomena and Macrocyclic Chemistry