Aqueous Design & Electronic Structure Engineering of New Materials for Solar Energy Conversion

Abstract : The demand of low-cost and highly efficient materials has become a major challenge scientists are facing to answer crucial contemporary issues such as clean alternative energy resources for a safer and cleaner environment. One of the promising alternatives for the transition of fossil fuel-based energy to a clean and renewable one relies on the widespread implementation of solar energy conversion systems[1], yet the high cost of energy production and low-energy of currently used material combinations pose an intrinsic limitation. In this context, new materials development is required to achieve the necessary crucial increase in power generation and conversion efficiency. The necessity of materials development which is not limited to materials that can achieve their theoretical limits, but makes it possible to raise these limits by changing the fundamental underlying physics and chemistry is critical. Low cost purpose-built materials with optimized structure and properties combined with inexpensive large scale manufacturing methods will play a decisive role in the success of renewable energy systems. However, fabricating large areas of such materials is a daunting challenge.
Novel smarter and cheaper fabrication techniques and, just as important, better fundamental knowledge and comprehensive understanding of their properties using nanoscale phenomena such as quantum confinements to create multi-functional structures and devices is the key to success. Such concepts will be demonstrated by the thermodynamic modeling, low-cost aqueous design and fabrication of highly oriented crystalline arrays of metal oxide quantum dots and rods-based structures and devices with controlled orientation, size and shape onto various substrates designed at multiple scales by aqueous chemical growth at low-temperature[2] along with the in-depth study of their electronic structure and quantum confinement effects performed at synchrotron radiation facilities[3] as well as their applications for sustainable solar energy conversion such as solar fuels[1].
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