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

技术概述材料研究部内的固态材料和化学计划支持这一职业奖项的活动。这项工作的目标是探索、理解和应用高纵横比的纳米结构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。这项工作的目标是合成类金刚石、富含稀土的磷化物，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是未被探索的。这项工作将证明，通常归因于所有这些材料的感知限制是外在的，可以通过明智的设计和对其形态的剪裁来克服。用于太阳能应用的磷化物合金的操作将通过单独的纳米线测量、整体薄膜的稳态光电化学测量和瞬时光响应测量来了解。这些数据将提供更完整的理解，当它们被制备成具有高纵横比的纳米线时的光电性质。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目前阻碍构建可扩展、燃料形成的光电化学电池的现有材料空白，这些材料的开发也为探索替代的染料敏化光电电极设计提供了机会。非技术概述：该项目的广泛目标是开发可用于太阳能转换/储存技术的磷化物材料和材料界面，这些材料有可能对全球范围内的能源使用和分配产生深远影响。这项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员、研究生和本科生将接受与能源转换/储存领域直接相关的材料表征技术、半导体器件物理和表面分析技术方面的培训和技能。该项目还将开展以能源为主题的外联活动，旨在促进密歇根大学化学系与底特律地区中学生之间的新的长期互动。这些针对中学生的活动的目标是让发明更清洁、更安全、更实惠的可再生能源技术背后的科学变得更加真实、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.