CAREER:Nanostructured Binary and Ternary Phosphide Semiconductors for Photoelectrochemical Energy Conversion/Storage

材料研究部的固态材料和化学项目为CAREER奖的活动提供支持。这项工作的目的是探索、理解和应用高纵横比、纳米结构的二元和三元磷化物半导体作为太阳能捕获、转换和存储的材料。这项工作特别针对类金刚石，地球丰富的磷化物的合成，如GaP， BP, ZnSiP2, ZnGeP2, ZnSnP2, CdSiP2， CdGeP2和CdSnP2，这些半导体在光电化学系统中作为光电极材料在很大程度上尚未被探索。这项工作将证明，通常归因于所有这些材料的感知限制在本质上是外在的，可以通过明智的设计和定制其形态来克服。将通过单个纳米线测量、系综薄膜的稳态光电化学测量和瞬态光响应测量来了解用于太阳能应用的磷化合金的操作。这些数据将为高纵横比纳米线的光电特性提供更完整的理解。这项工作将证明纳米结构磷化物二元和三元合金半导体有能力填补现有材料的空白，目前抑制可扩展的，燃料形成的光电化学电池的建设，这些材料的发展也提供了探索替代染料敏化光电极设计的机会。非技术总结：该项目的总体目标是开发可用于太阳能转换/存储技术的磷化材料和材料界面，这些技术有可能深刻影响全球范围内的能源使用和分配。该研究将集中于详细分析材料组成和形态之间的相互作用对捕获、转换和利用太阳能的能力的影响。参与这些活动的博士后、研究生和本科生将接受材料表征技术、半导体器件物理和与能量转换/存储领域直接相关的表面分析技术的培训和技能。该项目还将以能源为主题的推广活动为特色，旨在为密歇根大学化学系和底特律地区中学生之间建立新的长期互动关系。这些针对中学生的活动的目标是使发明更清洁、更安全、更实惠的可再生能源技术背后的科学更加真实、有形和诱人，并突出密歇根州能源科学领域有前途的职业选择。

TECHNICAL SUMMARY The Solid State Materials and Chemistry Program within the Division of Materials Research supports the activities of this CAREER award. The objectives of this work are to explore, understand, and apply high aspect ratio, nanostructured binary and ternary phosphide semiconductors as materials for solar energy capture, conversion, and storage. This work specifically targets the synthesis of diamond-like, earth-abundant phosphides such as GaP, BP, ZnSiP2, ZnGeP2, ZnSnP2, CdSiP2, CdGeP2, and CdSnP2, semiconductors which have been largely unexplored as photoelectrode materials in photoelectrochemical systems. This work will demonstrate that the perceived limitations commonly ascribed to all of these materials are extrinsic in nature and can be overcome by judicious design and tailoring of their morphologies. The operation of phosphide alloys for solar energy applications will be understood through individual nanowire measurements, steady-state photoelectrochemical measurements of ensemble films, and transient photoresponse measurements. These data will provide a more complete understanding of their optoelectronic properties when prepared as nanowires with high aspect ratios. This work will both demonstrate that nanostructured phosphide binary and ternary alloy semiconductors have the capacity to fill the existing materials gap currently inhibiting the construction of scalable, fuel-forming photoelectrochemical cells and that the development of these materials also affords the opportunity to explore alternative dye-sensitized photoelectrode designs. NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: The broad goals of this project are to develop phosphide materials and material interfaces that could be used in solar energy conversion/storage technologies that have the potential to profoundly influence energy usage and distribution at a global scale. The research will focus on a detailed analyses of the effect that the interplay between material composition and morphology has on the ability to capture, convert, and utilize solar energy. Postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and undergraduate students involved in these activities will be trained and skilled in materials characterization techniques, semiconductor device physics, and surface analytical techniques directly relevant to the fields of energy conversion/storage. The project will also feature energy-themed outreach activities designed to seed new and long-term interactions between the Department of Chemistry at the University of Michigan and Detroit area middle school students. The goals of these activities for middle school students are to make the science behind the invention of cleaner, safer, and more affordable renewable energy technologies more real, tangible, and enticing and to highlight promising career options in energy sciences within the state of Michigan.