Nanostructured Array in Photocatalytic Device Design for Energy Applications
Abstract
With an increasing need for the environmental protection of our planet and the adoption of the agreement at the Paris Climate Conference (COP21), the utilization of renewable energies and enhancement of energy efficiency are key to limiting global warming to below 2 C. As such, solar hydrogen production is an attractive low-carbon technology. However, oxygen production directly from water splitting using photocatalysts is kinetically unfavorable. Here, we propose a photoelectrochemical (PEC) system to perform a selective oxidation process of biomass-derived chemicals at the anode under illumination. Hydrogen is produced at the cathode, and valuable chemicals are synthesized at the anode, increasing both the efficiency and function of PEC solar-tochemical conversion. The proposed research is a collaborative effort with Prof. T. Randall Lee at University of Houston in USA. Our recently published work has demonstrated the effectiveness of embedding photonic nanoparticles in photocatalytic matrixes for boosting the conversion of water to hydrogen. The specific goal for the Taiwan side of the collaboration is to develop further the nanostructured architecture in photocatalytic device design, which seek to mitigate the (1) low solar-to-fuel conversion efficiency due to the limited range of light absorption, (2) high electronhole recombination rates under irradiation, and (3) slow reaction kinetics at the active sites. The keys to enhanced hydrogen production of our gold-silver nanoshell (GS-NS)@SiO2@ZnIn2S4 (ZIS) are the suitable coupling between surface plasmon resonance from GS-NS and absorption of photocatalyst, and dielectric layer in between.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Sep 11, 2017
- Source ID
- FA23861714028
Entities
People
- Tai-Chou Lee
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- National Central University
- United States Air Force