SusChEM: Interfacial Interactions and Electron Transfer in Dye-Sensitized Systems for Photovoltaics and Photocatalysis

通过这一奖项，化学系化学结构、动力学和机制B计划(CSDMB)支持威廉和玛丽学院化学系的Kristin Wustholz教授研究用于下一代太阳能转换材料和设备的有机染料敏化系统。有机染料增感剂是一种分子，可用于收集阳光，用于能源相关应用。它们的工作原理是吸收将染料中的电子激发到更高能级所需的光。然后，这种高能电子被转移到半导体材料上。使用有机染料增感剂进行这项工作特别有吸引力，因为它们是由地球上丰富的廉价材料制成的。然而，它们的使用也伴随着成本，因为它们的使用往往因为染料和半导体之间的电子转移效率低以及染料-半导体络合物的长期稳定性差而变得复杂。本项目的目标是通过学习如何优化有机染料敏化剂的光捕获能力，同时保持染料-半导体络合物的电子转移效率和稳定性来解决这些问题。通过解决这些问题，Wustholz小组正在为解决与日益增长的可再生能源需求有关的当前问题做出贡献。同时，这项研究为正在接受物理、分析和材料化学培训的本科生和硕士生提供了有意义的研究和发展经验。在预算期间，Wustholz小组正在继续努力，通过长期的有指导的研究经验以及旨在增加这类学生接触到有意义的科学经验的人数的外联活动，发展代表不足的学生的研究和沟通技能。这个项目的中心目标是了解染料敏化太阳能电池和光催化的有机染料系统中发生的界面相互作用和电子转移过程。有机染料增敏剂由丰富的稀土元素组成，具有高吸收系数，并有可能通过可控的表面聚集来增强光收集。在这项工作中，Wustholz小组将采取三个主要策略来了解和优化有机染料体系的光学和电学性质：1)确定表面聚集有机染料的结构-活性关系，2)在分子水平上阐明界面电子转移过程和动力学分散，以及3)探索操作变量对表面锚定有机染料分子聚集和界面动力学的影响。该项目有助于我们对太阳能转换的基本了解，并有助于开发有效地将太阳光子转化为化学能的新方法。

With this award, the Chemical Structure, Dynamics, and Mechanism B Program (CSDMB) of the Chemistry Division is supporting the research of Professor Kristin Wustholz of the Department of Chemistry at the College of William and Mary to study organic dye-sensitized systems for use in next-generation solar energy conversion materials and devices. Organic dye sensitizers are molecules that can be used to harvest sunlight for energy related applications. They work by absorbing the light needed to excite an electron in the dye to a higher energy level. This high energy electron is then transferred to a semiconducting material. The use of an organic dye sensitizer for this effort is particularly attractive because they are made of earth-abundant, inexpensive materials. However, their use also comes with a cost in that their use is frequently complicated by the low efficiency of electron-transfer between the dye and the semiconductor and the poor long-term stability of the dye-semiconductor complex. The goal of this project is to solve these problems by learning how to optimize the light-harvesting ability of organic dye sensitizers while maintaining both the electron-transfer efficiency and stability of the dye-semiconductor complexes. By addressing these problems, the Wustholz group is contributing to efforts to address current issues related to the growing demand for renewable energy. At the same time, the research is providing meaningful research and developmental experiences for undergraduate and master's degree students who are being trained in physical, analytical, and materials chemistry. During the budget period, the Wustholz group is continuing its efforts to develop the research and communication skills of underrepresented students through long-term, mentored research experiences, as well as outreach activities that are aimed at increasing the number of such students that are exposed to meaningful scientific experiences. The central goal of this project is to understand the interfacial interactions and electron-transfer processes occurring in organic-dye-based systems for dye-sensitized solar cells and photocatalysis. Organic dye sensitizers consist of earth-abundant elements, possess high absorption coefficients, and have the potential for enhanced light harvesting through controlled surface aggregation. In this work, the Wustholz group will pursue three main strategies to understand and optimize the optical and electronic properties of organic-dye-based systems for solar-to-electrical and solar-to-fuel conversion: 1) determine the structure-activity relationships of surface-aggregated organic dyes, 2) elucidate the interfacial electron-transfer processes and kinetic dispersion at the molecular level, and 3) probe the impact of operational variables on molecular aggregation and interfacial kinetics for surface-anchored organic dyes. This project contributes to our fundamental understanding of solar energy conversion and to the development of new approaches to efficiently convert solar photons into chemical energy.