Solar photocatalytic energy conversion

Semiconductor-Based Photocatalytic, Photoelectrochemical, and Photovoltaic Solar-Energy Conversion

Semiconductor-based photocatalytic, photoelectrochemical, and photovoltaic solar-energy conversion has been considered very promising to address the energy and environmental challenges. At the heart of the technology is the lack of suitable semiconductor materials and efficient systems that can perform the solar-energy conversion efficiently and inexpensively. Much work needs to be done in this...

Solar energy conversion

energy—enough to power the great oceanic and atmospheric currents, the cycle of evaporation and condensation that brings fresh water inland and drives river flow, and the typhoons, hurricanes, and tornadoes that so easily destroy the natural and built landscape. The San Francisco earthquake of 1906, with magnitude 7.8, released an estimated 1017 joules of energy, the amount the Sun delivers to ...

Photochemical Conversion of Solar Energy

Metal Nanoshells for Plasmonically Enhanced Solar-to-Fuel Photocatalytic Conversion

In this study, first, we prepared ternary component semiconductor powders of ZnmIn2S3+m (ZIS) by using microwave-assisted hydrothermal method. Microwave-assisted hydrothermal process is a facile way to produce nanomaterials at a shorter reaction time with less secondary impurities while changing the amount of zinc in a series of solid solutions. With little adjustment of the ratios of [Zn]/[In]...

Metal Nanoshells for Enhanced Solar-to-Fuel Photocatalytic Conversion

In our preliminary study, we had prepared quaternary semiconductor powder of AgxInxZnyS2x+y, a photocatalysts with a high activity. In this study, we further extended the investigation, changed the amount of indium in a series of solid solutions, and increased the photochemical activity substantially. With little adjustment of the ratios of [In]/[Ag], the hydrogen production rate of the photoca...