Engineering New Nanostructured Materials for Tunable Light-Matter Interactions

纳米材料工程为开发具有独特功能的新材料提供了丰富的场所，这些新材料适用于各种应用，例如计算，通信，传感和能源。这种丰富的可能性源于这样一个事实，即在纳米尺度上，尺寸、形状和结构在决定材料特性和相关现象方面起着重要作用——除了成分。一个令人兴奋的研究领域是纳米尺度上的光-物质相互作用，特别是以开发利用光能的有效手段为目标的探究线。******考虑到不间断的太阳光线以平均89000太瓦的功率水平沐浴在地球的光能中，大约比我们目前的全球能源消耗率（20tw）高出三个数量级，而后者主要由消耗的化石燃料组成，显然我们应该开发下一代材料和设备，能够有效地利用这种光能发电和太阳能燃料，采光，加热和冷却，从而推进实现可持续社会的愿景。******博士。Kherani的研究项目是开发具有高度成分、结构和尺寸控制的新型纳米材料，这些纳米材料将能够在收集和控制光能的设备中实现所需的光-物质相互作用，以及在传感、成像和光子学领域的相关新兴设备。可调谐纳米材料的进展能够增强与可见、红外和中红外辐射的相互作用，从而实现将太阳和热辐射有效转化为电能的新范例，并通过轻松控制可见和不可见光能的流动（例如，通过窗户）来有效利用光能。此外，合理设计的纳米材料还可以应用于光活性应用，包括智能光热响应光学器件，光催化生成太阳能燃料（例如太阳能中的氢和碳氢化合物燃料）和人工光合作用。******________________****虽然这是总功率通量，但发电的技术潜力为~7,500太瓦，太阳能燃料（制氢）的技术潜力为~2,500太瓦；后一种估计分别包括30%和10%的光伏和光化学转换效率。这些数字还包括一般难以到达的海洋和寒冷的两极。

Nanomaterials engineering presents a rich venue for the development of new materials with unique functionalities amenable to a variety of applications computing, communications, sensing, and energy to name a few. This abundance of possibilities arises from the fact that at the nanoscale, size shape and structure play a significant role in determining material properties and associated phenomena - in addition to composition. One exciting field of study is that of light-matter interactions at the nanoscale, and in particular, lines of inquiry motivated by the objective of developing effective means of harnessing light energy.******Considering that the unremitting rays of the sun bathe the globe in light energy at an average power level of ~89,000 TW* some three orders beyond our present global energy consumption rate of ~20 TW and where the latter is principally comprised of depleting fossil fuels it clearly behooves us to develop the next generation of materials and devices that can effectively tap this light energy generating electricity and solar fuels, daylighting, heating and cooling and thus advancing the vision of realizing a sustainable society.******Dr. Kherani's research program is to develop new nanomaterials with a high degree of compositional, structural and size control that will enable the attainment of desired light-matter interaction in devices that harvest and control light energy, as well as allied emergent devices in the fields of sensing, imaging and photonics in general. Advances in tunable nanomaterials capable of enhanced interaction with visible, infrared, and mid-infrared radiation can lead to new paradigmsenabling effective conversion of solar and thermal radiation into electrical energy, and efficient utilization of light energy through facile control over the flow of visible and invisible light energy (for example, through windows). Further, rationally designed nanomaterials can also be applied for photoactive applications including smart photo-thermo-response optical devices, photocatalytic generation of solar fuels (for example, hydrogen and hydrocarbon fuels from solar energy) and artificial photosynthesis.******________________****While this is the total power flux, the technical potential of electricity generation is ~7,500 TW and that for solar fuels (hydrogen production) is ~2,500 TW; the latter estimates include 30% and 10% photovoltaic and photochemical conversion efficiencies, respectively. These figures also account for the generally inaccessible oceans and frigid poles.