Syntheses and Characterizations of Efficient Visible-light Driven Photocatalytic Materials

该项目由美国加州大学河滨分校的冯平云教授资助，他将开发用于水分解的新型可见光驱动半导体非均相光催化剂。半导体材料是构建捕获、转换和储存太阳能的设备的基础。为了实现低成本、高效率的太阳能转换，发现高效的半导体材料和新的转换途径至关重要。本研究的总体目标是设计和合成基于晶体金属氧化物的高效可见光驱动光催化材料，同时深入了解材料设计原理，如能带工程机理和成分-结构-性能关系。首席研究员（PI）将专注于开发低成本的通用合成方法来合成具有高响应可见光活性的光催化材料。最大化可见光活性的策略包括(1)成分和结构控制，以实现带隙工程；(2)结晶度和形态控制，以提高有效的电荷分离；(3)光学、光电化学和光催化测量，为进一步调整和优化合成参数提供指导。拟议的研究解决了一个重要的能源和环境问题：使用可再生和无污染的能源。旨在开发可再生太阳能转化为环境友好型氢燃料等适用于能源生产和储存的新型多功能材料。它也将提供一个重要的化学和结构因素，控制光催化性能和过程的基本理解。这将允许合理的合成设计和优化用于太阳能转换和燃料生产的先进材料。此外，由于UCR招收了大量少数民族学生，这将对学生群体的多样化产生积极影响，并且该机构和PI小组强烈鼓励本科生研究。该研究项目结合了材料合成的多样性和各种表征技术，并为学生提供了良好的培训机会。学生在这个项目中的研究经验将对他们在对我们社会日益重要的研究领域的科学生涯产生重大影响。

With this project funded by the Chemical Catalysis Program, Prof. Pingyun Feng of the University of California at Riverside (UCR) will develop new visible-light-driven semiconducting heterogeneous photocatalysts for water splitting. Semiconducting materials lie at the foundation for the construction of devices for capture, conversion, and storage of solar energy. To achieve low-cost and efficient solar energy conversion, the discovery of efficient semiconductor materials and new conversion pathways is essential. The overall goal of this research is to design and synthesize efficient visible-light-driven photocatalytic materials based on crystalline metal oxides while developing a solid understanding of materials-design principles such as band engineering mechanism and composition-structure-property relationship. The principal investigator (PI) will focus on developing low-cost versatile synthetic methods to synthesize photocatalytic materials with highly responsive visible-light activity. Strategies for maximizing the visible-light activity include (1) compositional and structural control to achieve band gap engineering, (2) crystallinity and morphological control to enhance efficient charge separation, and (3) optical, photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic measurements to provide guidance for further tuning and optimizing synthetic parameters.The proposed research addresses an important energy and environmental issue: the use of renewable and non-polluting energy. It aims to develop new multi-functional materials suitable for energy production and storage such as conversion of renewable solar energy to hydrogen fuel that is environmentally friendly. It will also provide a fundamental understanding of important chemical and structural factors that govern photocatalytic properties and processes. This will allow rational synthetic design and optimization of advanced materials for solar energy conversion and fuel production. Furthermore it will positively impact a very diverse student population since UCR has a large enrollment of minority students, and undergraduate research is strongly encouraged at this institution and in the PI's group. The research project combines diversity in materials synthesis and various characterization techniques and provides excellent training opportunities for students. The students' research experiences with this project can have a major impact in their scientific career in research areas of increasing importance to our society.