Department of Mechanical Engineering

ME Seminar - Investigation of Metal Oxide Semiconductors in the Photoelectrochemical Splitting of Water

 

Seminar Announcement

10:00 – 10:50 AM, 1226 Howe Hall

September 11, 2007

Investigation of Metal Oxide Semiconductors in the
Photoelectrochemical Splitting of Water

Dr. Vibha Satsangi
Dayalbagh Educational Institute, India

Abstract
With hydrogen being accepted as fuel for the future, the world is looking forward to the development of clean and sustainable methods of its production from renewable energy. One of the promising approaches to achieving this is by photoelectrochemical (PEC) splitting of water but the challenge here is to develop corrosion resistant, chemically stable semiconductor that absorbs sunlight in the visible region and also has the band edges matching to the redox level of water. The advent of nanotechnology has opened new vistas in the production of semiconductor with large surface area for solar energy absorption and other favorable properties, which has led to the study of materials such as α-Fe2O3 and TiO2 in the photoelectrochemical splitting of water.

In this context, the recent results of the research carried out in our laboratory on these metal oxides in nanostructured form with respect to the photoelectrochemical splitting of water will be presented. These will include the method of preparation, material properties, and the characteristics of semiconductor-electrolyte junction, namely particle size, dopants, crystalline phase, surface morphology, resistivity, bandgap, donor density and flatband potential.  The effect of sensitizer and the innovative techniques developed for surface modification in order to enhance the efficiency of the PEC system will also be presented. These include the techniques such as the deposition of metallic dots and swift heavy ion irradiation on the surface of the film.

---

Dr. Vibha Satsangi is a faculty member in the Department of Physics & Computer Science, Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Dayalbagh, India. She has over 23 years of teaching and research experience and has received numerous awards including the best paper award from the International Conference on Electrochemical Power System in 2004. Her research focus is on PEC splitting of water using nano-crystalline metal oxides.

---