Development of High Surface Area Crystalline Semiconductors for Visible Light Driven Photocatalysis

技术概要：使用基于光催化剂的多相系统将水光催化分解成H2和O2有望成为太阳能转换和储存的最简单和最经济的方法之一。这些系统的实际应用的主要限制是缺乏稳定的半导体光催化剂，该半导体光催化剂可以在太阳光谱的可见光区域中以高转换效率进行水裂解。目前提高水光解效率的许多努力都集中在致密体半导体上，并且这些半导体由于其低表面积和显著的电荷复合以及其他问题（例如氧化物中的宽带隙和硫化物的低光化学稳定性）而倾向于提供差的转换效率。在这里，通过组成和结构控制，以实现带隙工程，模板方法，以提高表面积和催化性能，和系统的光催化和光物理测量，我们的目标是创建一个家庭的稳定，高效，可见光驱动的纳米多孔光催化剂的水裂解。这些光催化剂将是多功能材料，其集成了折射率、高结晶度和可调孔隙率，并且将具有克服已知半导体光催化剂的主要限制的潜力。这些材料提供的关键优势包括大的界面表面积，短的电子-空穴扩散到内部界面的长度，以及用于带隙工程的多条路线。拟议的项目涉及多个研究领域。因此，它将为学生提供极好的培训机会。非技术性总结：拟议的研究解决了一个重要的能源和环境问题：可再生和无污染能源的使用。它旨在开发适合能源生产和储存的新型多功能材料，例如将可再生太阳能转化为环保的氢燃料。它还将提供有关控制光催化性能和过程的重要化学和结构因素的基本理解。这将允许合理的合成设计和优化用于氢燃料生产的先进材料和工艺。加州大学滨江有一个非常多样化的学生群体与少数民族学生的大量招生，和本科研究是强烈鼓励在加州大学河滨分校和PI？s组。该项目结合了材料合成的多样性和各种表征技术，为学生提供了极好的培训机会。他们在这个项目中的研究经验会对这些学生产生重大影响吗？研究领域的科学事业对我们的社会越来越重要。

TECHNICAL SUMMARY:Photocatalytic splitting of water into H2 and O2 using semiconductor-based heterogeneous systems promises to be one of the simplest and most economical methods for solar energy conversion and storage. A major limitation to the practical application of these systems is the lack of stable semiconductor photocatalysts that can carry out the water splitting in the visible region of the solar spectrum with high conversion efficiency. Much of current efforts to improve the efficiency of water photolysis focus on dense bulk semiconductors, and those tend to offer poor conversion efficiency because of their low surface area and significant charge recombination as well as of other problems such as the wide band gaps in oxides and the low photochemical stability of sulfides. Here, through compositional and structural control to achieve band gap engineering, templating approach to enhance surface area and catalytic performance, and systematic photocatalytic and photophysical measurements, we aim to create a family of stable, efficient, and visible light driven nanoporous photocatalysts for water splitting. These photocatalysts will be multi-functional materials that integrate semiconductivity, high crystallinity, and tunable porosity, and will have the potential to overcome the main limitations of known semiconductor photocatalysts. The key advantages offered by these materials include large interfacial surface areas, short electron-hole diffusion lengths to the internal interfaces, and multiple routes for band gap engineering. The proposed project borders on various research areas. It will therefore provide excellent training opportunities for students.NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:The proposed research addresses an important energy and environmental issue: the use of renewable and non-polluting energy. It aims to develop new multi-functional materials suitable for energy production and storage such as conversion of renewable solar energy to hydrogen fuel that is environmentally friendly. It will also provide a fundamental understanding about important chemical and structural factors that govern photocatalytic properties and processes. This will allow rational synthetic design and optimization of advanced materials and processes for the hydrogen fuel production. UC Riverside has a very diverse student population with a large enrollment of minority students, and undergraduate research is strongly encouraged at UCR and in the PI?s group. The project combines diversity in materials synthesis and various characterization techniques and provides excellent training opportunities for students. Their research experiences with this project can have a major impact in these students? scientific career in research areas that are of increasing importance to our society.