A "photoelectrochemical cell" is one of two distinct classes of device. The first produces electrical energy similarly to a dye-sensitized photovoltaic cell, which meets the standard definition of a photovoltaic cell. The second is a photoelectrolytic cell, that is, a device which uses light incident on a photosensitizer, semiconductor, or aqueous metal immersed in an electrolytic solution to directly cause a chemical reaction, for example to produce hydrogen via the electrolysis of water.
Nanoelectrochemistry is a branch of electrochemistry that investigates the electrical and electrochemical properties of materials at the nanometer size regime. Nanoelectrochemistry plays significant role in the fabrication of various sensors, and devices for detecting molecules at very low concentrations.
Nanomaterial-based catalysts are usually heterogeneous catalysts broken up into metal nanoparticles in order to enhance the catalytic process. Metal nanoparticles have high surface area, which can increase catalytic activity. Nanoparticle catalysts can be easily separated and recycled. They are typically used under mild conditions to prevent decomposition of the nanoparticles.
Harry Albert Atwater, Jr. is an American physicist and materials scientist and is the Otis Booth Leadership Chair of the division of engineering and applied science at the California Institute of Technology. Currently he is the Howard Hughes Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science and the director for the Liquid Sunlight Alliance (LiSA), a Department of Energy Hub program for solar fuels. Atwater's scientific effort focuses on nanophotonic light-matter interactions and solar energy conversion. His current research in energy centers on high efficiency photovoltaics, carbon capture and removal, and photoelectrochemical processes for generation of solar fuels. His research has resulted in world records for solar photovoltaic conversion and photoelectrochemical water splitting. His work also spans fundamental nanophotonic phenomena, in plasmonics and 2D materials, and also applications including active metasurfaces and optical propulsion.
Heinz Gerischer was a German chemist who specialized in electrochemistry. He was the thesis advisor of future Nobel laureate Gerhard Ertl.
Allen Joseph Bard was an American chemist. He was the Hackerman-Welch Regents Chair Professor and director of the Center for Electrochemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. Bard developed innovations such as the scanning electrochemical microscope, his co-discovery of electrochemiluminescence, his key contributions to photoelectrochemistry of semiconductor electrodes, and co-authoring a seminal textbook.
Photoelectrochemistry is a subfield of study within physical chemistry concerned with the interaction of light with electrochemical systems. It is an active domain of investigation. One of the pioneers of this field of electrochemistry was the German electrochemist Heinz Gerischer. The interest in this domain is high in the context of development of renewable energy conversion and storage technology.
Water oxidation is one of the half reactions of water splitting:
Quantum photoelectrochemistry is the investigation of the quantum mechanical nature of photoelectrochemistry, the subfield of study within physical chemistry concerned with the interaction of light with electrochemical systems, typically through the application of quantum chemical calculations. Quantum photoelectrochemistry provides an expansion of quantum electrochemistry to processes involving also the interaction with light (photons). It therefore also includes essential elements of photochemistry. Key aspects of quantum photoelectrochemistry are calculations of optical excitations, photoinduced electron and energy transfer processes, excited state evolution, as well as interfacial charge separation and charge transport in nanoscale energy conversion systems.
Yang Shao-Horn is a Chinese American scholar, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering and a member of Research Laboratory of Electronics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is known for research on understanding and controlling of processes for storing electrons in chemical bonds towards zero-carbon energy and chemicals.
The electrochemical promotion of catalysis (EPOC) effect in the realm of chemistry refers to the pronounced enhancement of catalytic reactions or significant changes in the catalytic properties of a conductive catalyst in the presence of electrical currents or interfacial potentials. Also known as Non-faradaic electrochemical modification of catalytic activity (the NEMCA effect), it can increase in catalytic activity (up to 90-fold) and selectivity of a gas exposed electrode on a solid electrolyte cell upon application of a potential. This phenomenon is well documented and has been observed on various surfaces (Ni, Au, Pt, Pd, IrO2, RuO2) supported by O2−, Na+ and proton conducting solid electrolytes.
Doron Aurbach is an Israeli electrochemist, materials and surface scientist.
David S. Ginger is an American physical chemist. He is the B. Seymour Rabinovitch Endowed Professor of Chemistry at the University of Washington. He is also a Washington Research Foundation distinguished scholar, and chief scientist of the University of Washington Clean Energy Institute. In 2018, he was elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences for his work on the microscopic investigation of materials for thin-film semiconductors. He was elected a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2012, and was a 2016 National Finalist of the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists.
Yi Cui is a Chinese-American materials scientist, specializing in nanotechnology, and energy and environment-related research. Cui is the Fortinet Founders Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and by courtesy, of Chemistry at Stanford University. He currently serves as the director of the Precourt Institute for Energy, succeeding Arun Majumdar and Sally Benson. He has been named the inaugural faculty director of the Sustainability Accelerator within the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. He also serves as a co-director of the Bay Area Photovoltaics Consortium, the Battery500 Consortium, and the StorageX initiative. He is a faculty member of Stanford Photon Science of SLAC, principal investigator at the Stanford Institute for Materials & Energy Sciences, and a senior fellow at Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and European Academy of Engineering, and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Materials Research Society (MRS), Electrochemical Society (ECS), and the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). He has been one of the world's most-cited researchers and most influential scientific minds. He has published over 806 research papers with an H-index of 267. He currently serves as the Executive Editor of Nano Letters from ACS Publications.
Raman spectroelectrochemistry (Raman-SEC) is a technique that studies the inelastic scattering or Raman scattering of monochromatic light related to chemical compounds involved in an electrode process. This technique provides information about vibrational energy transitions of molecules, using a monochromatic light source, usually from a laser that belongs to the UV, Vis or NIR region. Raman spectroelectrochemistry provides specific information about structural changes, composition and orientation of the molecules on the electrode surface involved in an electrochemical reaction, being the Raman spectra registered a real fingerprint of the compounds.
Daniel Kwabena Dakwa Bediako is a Ghanaian-British chemist. He is currently assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and is the Cupola Era Professor in the college of chemistry. His research considers charge transport and interfacial charge transfer in two-dimensional materials and heterostructures. He is also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS).
Yayuan Liu is a Chinese-American materials scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research considers electrochemistry, nanomaterials, and materials characterisation for the development of next-generation batteries. She was selected as one of the 2019 American Chemical Society Young Investigators and included in the 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 list of top scientists.
The tribovoltaic effect is the effect of generating of tribo-current at a sliding semiconductors interface or sliding semiconductor and metal interface, which is firstly proposed by Wang et al. in 2018. When a P-type semiconductor slides over a N-type semiconductor, the energy “quantum” also named as “bindington” will be released at the interface due to the formation of new chemical bonds. The released energy can excite electron-hole pairs at the interface, which are further separated and moved from one side to the other side under the built-in electric field at the semiconductor interface, generating a direct current in external circuit.
Emily Warren is an American chemical engineer who is a staff scientist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Her research considers high efficiency crystalline photovoltaics.
Krishnan Rajeshwar is a chemist, researcher and academic. He is a Distinguished University Professor and Founding Director of the Center for Renewable Energy Science & Technology at The University of Texas at Arlington.
