Atomic-Scale Design of Oxide Heterojunctions for Energy Conversion

Strategic Research Initiatives

Elif Ertekin: Mechanical Science and Engineering

Lane Martin, Angus Rockett: Materials Science and Engineering

Ed Seebauer: Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Addressing the Problem

By 2030, several hundred GW of energy worldwide must originate from low-carbon sources to cap atmospheric CO2 concentrations at levels deemed “lower-risk” by scientific consensus. Water-splitting photocatalysts (sunlight to hydrogen fuel) and photovoltaics (sunlight to electricity) are potential candidates, but they remain too inefficient and expensive. Photocatalysis offers a promising approach to energy production, and also has applications in environmental remediation.

Research Goals

To produce greatly improved photocatalysts for solar hydrogen production as well as energy-efficient environmental remediation, researchers are pursuing a transformative approach for designing and synthesizing oxide heterojunctions for photocatalytic (PC) energy conversion devices. A primary goal is to demonstrate a TiO2-SrRuO3 heterostructure that has a photoactivity that is at least two orders of magnitude higher than “ordinary” thin-film anatase TiO2.