Multiferroic nanostructured oxides for solar fuel generation

太阳能向化学燃料的经济转化是以可持续的方式满足未来能源需求的最有前途的途径之一。太阳能发电依赖于半导体材料对太阳光能量的有效吸收和转化。控制和开发独特的、量身定制的纳米结构，同时防止使用极性半导体的光催化活性下降，可以带来重大的技术好处，并最终实现高效和具有成本效益的太阳能转换。极性多铁陶瓷可以促进光激发载流子的有效分离和传输。特别令人感兴趣的是这些极性陶瓷独特的复合纳米结构，它可以阻止体相和表面复合路径，从而显著提高整体太阳能到燃料的转换效率。本项目将研究利用低温微波水热方法合成和加工多铁陶瓷材料的受控纳米结构，并在基于颗粒的人工光合作用系统中考察工艺参数对光催化性能的影响。这项工作中开展的详细研究将有助于从根本上理解极化和纳米结构在粉末系统性能中的作用。这将极大地影响和加速这种系统在可持续燃料发电的实际应用中的使用。

The economic conversion of solar energy into chemical fuels is one of the most promising paths to meet the future energy demand in a sustainable manner. Solar-driven energy generation relies on the efficient absorption and conversion of the energy of the sunlight by a semiconductor material. Control and development of unique and tailored nanostructured architectures whilst preventing the degradation of photocatalytic activity using polar semiconductors could lead to major technological benefits and ultimately efficient and cost-effective conversion of solar energy. Polar multiferroic ceramics can promote efficient separation and transport of photoexcited charge carriers. Of particular interest is unique composite nanostructures of these polar ceramics that could prohibit bulk and surface recombination pathways hence leading to significant improvements in overall solar to fuel conversion efficiency. This project will investigate synthesis and processing of controlled nanostructures of multiferroic ceramic materials using low temperature microwave hydrothermal methods and examine the effect of processing parameters on photocatalytic performance in a particulate-based artificial photosynthesis system. The detailed investigation carried out in this work will contribute to the development of fundamental understanding of the role of polarisation and nanostructure architecture in the performance of powder based systems. This will significantly impact and accelerate the utilisation of such systems in practical applications of sustainable fuel generation.