| Photocatalysis | Electrocatalysis | Thermal Catalysis | Laboratory Resources |
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Photocatalysis
In the ever-expanding field of photocatalysis, our group places an emphasis on gaining a thorough understanding of the mechanisms involved in heterogeneous photocatalytic systems at the molecular level. Our approach combines the results of kinetic studies with rigorous in-situ and ex-situ catalyst characterization as well as computational modeling of these systems.Plasmonic photocatalyst design and implementation
Our lab was one of the first to report and explain the mechanisms behind the use of plasmonic metal
nanoparticles (Ag, Au, and Cu) as a driver for photocatalytic enhancement on both semiconductors and
directly on plasmonic metals. The unique dielectric properties of plasmonic metal nanoparticles
allow them to focus incoming electromagnetic radiation (i.e. light) directly onto reactants adsorbed on
the surface, thereby facilitating chemical transformations.
Our group has experimentally demonstrated the utility of plasmonic nanoparticles in enhancing the rate
and selectivity of industral reactions, and has analyzed the energy flow in plasmonic systems to further
our understanding of plasmonic catalysis. We are now working on engineering hybrid plasmonic
nanoparticles to broaden the applications of plasmonic catalysts.
Investigating metal-semiconductor interfaces in photo-electrocatalytic systems
Materials that have received the most attention in photoelectrochemical water splitting consist of
semiconductor light absorbers coupled to metal electrocatalysts. In these multi-component systems, the
semiconductor produces a photovoltage upon absorbing incident sunlight, and this voltage is used by
respective electrocatalysts to drive the hydrogen evolution (HER) and oxygen evolution (OER) half-
reactions. The objective of our work is to characterize and engineer interfaces between semiconductors
and metal electrocatalysts and develop physical models to identify and mitigate loss mechanisms. To
achieve this goal, we use advanced nanofabrication techniques and multi-scale modeling approaches.
