Bio-inspired photonics and surface engineering for sustainable energy materials

用于可持续能源材料的仿生光子学和表面工程

• 批准号: 2858904
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Manchester
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2858904
• 关键词: Bio; inspired; photonics; surface; engineering

The rapid consumption of fossil fuels and its consequential ecological and environmental issues necessitate the exploration of solutions centered around renewable green resources. Among the various alternative methods of green energy production, photoelectrocatalysis (PEC) emerges as a highly promising approach for simultaneously addressing energy and environmental concerns. PEC offers the potential to store intermittent yet abundant solar energy in the form of high-density fuels, notably hydrogen (H2). One of the major milestones in achieving efficient hydrogen production lies in the optimization of the photo absorbers, involving processes that enhance the absorption of solar radiation and generate a sufficient number of electrons (e-) and holes (h+) to drive the thermodynamically uphill redox processes, as well as material surface morphology and chemical structure that interact with other phases. - the research questions the project is trying to address/the objectives of the project:1. This project aims to develop novel fabrication methods for photocatalytic materials. The research questions we aim to address are as follows: In heterogeneous photocatalytic processes, inexpensive and abundant metal oxides (MOs) with bandgaps in the UV-Vis range are commonly employed as catalysts. 1) To achieve efficient photocatalytic water splitting, research on band gap engineering of MOs needs to be developed to align with the energy requirements of the overall water splitting process. 2) Also, many wide-bandgap MO semiconductors encounter limited catalytic activity for hydrogen production within the visible spectral range, thereby impeding the sufficient utilization of solar radiation. 3) Moreover, good chemical stability and efficient charge separation between photoexcited electrons (e-) and reactive holes (h+) are critical for both photocatalysts and electrochemical reactions.2. In terms of objectives in this project, we focus on harnessing the photonic characteristics of materials, with the objective of enhancing the photocatalytic performance of MOs. This will be accomplished by improving the nanoengineered structure of photocatalytic materials, facilitating changes in MO bandgap, providing high surface area, and enhancing the mobility of (e-) - (h+) pairs.Specifically, 1) Our approach involves the synthesis of sustainable photonic nanostructures, specifically crystalline structures with controlled long-range and short-range crystalline orders, which serve as template materials for MOs. 2) The implementation of MO structures in the form of photonic crystals is anticipated to enhance the photocatalytic performance of MOs within the visible light range. This enhancement can be achieved through significantly augmented light-material interaction at the edge of the photonic bandgap via the stop band, a frequency range that forbids propagation. 3) The crystal structure and overlap of the photonic and electronic band gaps in these structures extend the lifetimes of (e-) - (h+) pairs, thereby facilitating more efficient charge separation. 4) Tuning of the surface texture is undertaken to strike a balance between light-harvesting capacity, crystal structure, and potential losses during bubble formation and release.

化石燃料及其相应的生态和环境问题的快速消费需要探索以可再生绿色资源为中心的解决方案。在绿色能源生产的各种替代方法中，光电催化（PEC）是一种同时解决能源和环境问题的高度有希望的方法。 PEC提供了以高密度燃料（特别是氢（H2））形式存储间歇性但丰富的太阳能的潜力。实现有效氢产生的主要里程碑之一在于优化照片吸收器，涉及增强太阳辐射的吸收的过程，并产生足够数量的电子（E-）和孔（H+），以驱动热力学上的热力学上上坡层状工艺以及与其他层面相互作用的材料表面形式和化学层相互作用。 - 研究问题该项目正在尝试解决项目的目标：1。该项目旨在开发用于光催化材料的新型制造方法。我们旨在解决的研究问题如下：在异质的光催化过程中，廉价且丰富的金属氧化物（MOS）在UV-VIS范围内具有带镜头，通常用作催化剂。 1）为了实现有效的光催化水分割，需要开发对MOS带隙工程的研究，以与整体水分流过程的能量需求保持一致。 2）此外，许多宽带mo半导体在可见光谱范围内遇到有限的氢产生催化活性，从而阻碍了太阳辐射的足够利用。 3）此外，光激发电子（E-）和反应性孔（H+）之间的良好化学稳定性和有效的电荷分离对于光催化剂和电化学反应至关重要。2。就该项目的目标而言，我们专注于利用材料的光子特性，目的是增强MOS的光催化性能。这将通过改善光催化材料的纳米工程结构，促进MO带隙的变化，提供高表面积，并增强（E-） - （H+）对的迁移率。 2）预计以光子晶体形式的MO结构的实现将增强MOS在可见光范围内的光催化性能。可以通过停止带的光子带隙边缘的显着增强的轻质物质相互作用来实现这种增强，这一频率范围是禁止传播的频率范围。 3）这些结构中光子和电子带隙的晶体结构和重叠延长了（e-） - （H+）对的寿命，从而促进了更有效的电荷分离。 4）进行表面纹理的调整是为了在气泡形成和释放期间的轻度收获能力，晶体结构和潜在损失之间取得平衡。