PostHole
Compose
Login
Professor Saiful Islam
Not so long ago, all batteries were single use. And solar power was an emerging and expensive technology. Now, thanks to rechargeable batteries, we have mobile phones, laptops, electronic toys, cordless power tools and other portable electronic devices. And solar power is reducing our reliance on carbon-based fossil fuels. None of this would have been possible without a deep understanding of the chemistry of materials that have particular properties – the ability to turn sunlight into energy for example. Professor Saiful Islam of the University of Bath tells Jim Al-Khalili how ‘the Woodstock of physics’ got him excited about material science and how his research on the properties of materials is helping to power the 21st century with renewable energy and could dramatically reduce the cost of making solar panels.
Producer: Anna Buckley
Accessibility links
BBC World Service
Discovery
- Discovery Home
- Episodes
- Galleries
- Podcast
- Join us on Facebook
Main content
Listen now
Professor Saiful Islam
Discovery
Professor Saiful Islam talks to Jim Al-Khalili about his life and work studying the materials that make renewable energy possible.
Not so long ago, all batteries were single use. And solar power was an emerging and expensive technology. Now, thanks to rechargeable batteries, we have mobile phones, laptops, electronic toys, cordless power tools and other portable electronic devices. And solar power is reducing our reliance on carbon-based fossil fuels. None of this would have been possible without a deep understanding of the chemistry of materials that have particular properties – the ability to turn sunlight into energy for example. Professor Saiful Islam of the University of Bath tells Jim Al-Khalili how ‘the Woodstock of physics’ got him excited about material science and how his research on the properties of materials is helping to power the 21st century with renewable energy and could dramatically reduce the cost of making solar panels.
Producer: Anna Buckley
###
####
Higher quality (128kbps)
Lower quality (64kbps)
Available now
27 minutes
Last on
Tue 7 Apr 2020
15:32GMT
BBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
More episodes
Previous
Elizabeth Fisher: Chromosomes in mice and men
Next
See all episodes from Discovery
Broadcasts
Mon 6 Apr 2020
19:32GMT
BBC World Service
Tue 7 Apr 2020
01:32GMT
BBC World Service
Tue 7 Apr 2020
06:32GMT
BBC World Service
Space
The eclipses, spacecraft and astronauts changing our view of the Universe
The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry
[The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry]
A pair of scientific sleuths answer your perplexing questions. Ask them anything!
Podcast
Discovery
Explorations in the world of science.
Similar programmes
By genre:
- Factual > Science & Nature
By format:
Magazines & Reviews
[BBC World Service homepage]
News in more than 40 languages