Colloidal chemistry to build materials-by-design for energy applications
Event details
| Date | 13.03.2017 |
| Hour | 13:15 › 14:15 |
| Speaker | Prof. Raffaella Buonsanti, EPFL |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
Electrochemical energy devices require materials which conduct charges, catalyze reactions at the interfaces and are stable under operating conditions. Multicomponent nanomaterials, wherein the different parts synergistically function together, are ideal candidates to satisfy such a demand for complexity, thus enabling technological progress in many applications. Our laboratory uses colloidal chemistry to tailor-make highly tunable hybrid nanomaterials using nanocrystals as principal building blocks.
After a general introduction on colloidal nanocrystals, I will focus on a couple of examples which illustrate the benefit of using them as platforms to advance studies in artificial photosynthesis. Specifically, I will discuss our work on complex metal oxides and quantum dots nanocomposites as light absorbers for water splitting and on metal nanocrystals as electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction.1-4
She received her Master Degree in Chemistry from the University of Bari in 2006. In 2010, she graduated in Chemistry from the University of Salento working at the National Nanotechnology Laboratory (NNL, in Lecce-Italy). She was at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for almost six years, first as a postdoctoral researcher (2010-2012) and project scientist (2012-2013) at the Molecular Foundry and after as a tenure-track staff scientist (2013-2015) in the Materials Science Department within the Joint Center of Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP).
Here at EPFL, Raffaella implements a highly interdisciplinary approach, spanning from Chemistry to Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, to address fundamental challenges of energy technologies. Through her core expertise in colloidal synthesis, she develops novel approaches to complex materials to drive chemical transformations, with particular emphasis to energy-related reactions such as CO2 reduction and water oxidation.
After a general introduction on colloidal nanocrystals, I will focus on a couple of examples which illustrate the benefit of using them as platforms to advance studies in artificial photosynthesis. Specifically, I will discuss our work on complex metal oxides and quantum dots nanocomposites as light absorbers for water splitting and on metal nanocrystals as electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction.1-4
- C. Gadiyar, A. Loiudice, R. Buonsanti "Colloidal Nanocrystals for Photoelectrochemical and Photocatalytic Water Splitting" J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 2017, 50, 074006.
- A. Loiudice, P. Lobaccaro, E.A. Kamali, T. Thao, B.H. Hung, J.W. Ager, R. Buonsanti "Tailoring Cu nanocrystals towards C2 products in electrochemical CO2 reduction" Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 5789
- A. Loiudice, J.K. Cooper, Lucas H. Hess, T.M. Mattox, I.D. Sharp, R. Buonsanti "Assembly and photocarrier dynamics of heterostructured nanocomposite photoanodes from multicomponent colloidal nanocrystals" Nano. Lett. 2015, 15, 7347.
- A. Loiudice, J. Ma, W. S. Drisdell, T. M. Mattox, J. K. Cooper, T. Thao, C. Giannini, J. Yano, L.-W. Wang, I. D. Sharp, R. Buonsanti "Band-gap tunability in Sb-alloyed BiVO4 quaternary oxides as visible light absorbers for solar fuel applications" Adv. Mater. 2015, 27, 6733.
She received her Master Degree in Chemistry from the University of Bari in 2006. In 2010, she graduated in Chemistry from the University of Salento working at the National Nanotechnology Laboratory (NNL, in Lecce-Italy). She was at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for almost six years, first as a postdoctoral researcher (2010-2012) and project scientist (2012-2013) at the Molecular Foundry and after as a tenure-track staff scientist (2013-2015) in the Materials Science Department within the Joint Center of Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP).
Here at EPFL, Raffaella implements a highly interdisciplinary approach, spanning from Chemistry to Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, to address fundamental challenges of energy technologies. Through her core expertise in colloidal synthesis, she develops novel approaches to complex materials to drive chemical transformations, with particular emphasis to energy-related reactions such as CO2 reduction and water oxidation.
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- General public
- Free
Organizer
- Michele Ceriotti & Esther Amstad
Contact
- Michele Ceriotti & Esther Amstad