本项目利用固体化学方法研究可见光全分解水催化材料和高性能热电半导体，两者是半导体材料在不同领域的应用。本项目是在前期研究基础上提出的。如我们发现Bi2Ga4O9、SrGa11FeO19、Cr2Ge2Te6、SbCrSe3分别表现出可见光分解纯水或不错的热电转化效率（尚未发表）。通过分析物理机制，我们提出以下策略来优化其性能并尝试指导其他新型材料的探索：选择恰当的元素组合以及根据电子结构特征来寻找能带结构符合可见光全分解水条件的氧化物，并有目的的选择离子掺杂来提高可见光吸收能力；在具有较高对称性的准低维材料中，筛选包含有多种化学键类型或孤对电子的化合物，在本征低晶格热导的基础上通过共振能级或能带收敛工程来优化功率因子进而达到最佳ZT值。在本项目中，我们希望从元素电负性、化学键、晶体结构、对称性等方面归纳出一些用于寻找新型材料的指导策略。

This project targets to develop visible-light active photocatalysts for overall water splitting and semiconductors exhibiting superior thermoelectric properties. In the previous investigation, we discovered several interesting host compounds, Bi2Ga4O9, SrGa11FeO19, Cr2Ge2Te6, and SbCrSe3, which exhibited either overall water splitting under visible light or high ZT values for thermoelectrics. Based on the analyses of their physical mechanism, we proposed two strategies for developing novel semiconductors with high performances in both applications. In detail, it holds a high potential to discover new visible light responsive photocatalysts by selecting and combining appropriate cations with ideal electronic structure for charge separation, and rational cationic substitutions could enhance the light harvesting ability by introducing impurity levels within the forbidden band. We also propose to develop high ZT compounds of low-dimensional structures and with either high crystal symmetry or lone pair electrons, which are benefit for low lattice thermal conductivity and possible for improvement of power factor by resonant level or band convergence. Eventually, we intend to summarize several guiding principles for developing new materials, in the means of electronegativity, chemical bonding, structure chemistry or crystal symmetry.