The Powering the Planet Center for Chemical Innovation (CCI Solar) focuses on one of the outstanding problems in 21st Century science – the efficient and economical conversion of solar energy into stored chemical fuels. Through this CCI, the NSF has established a partnership with the scientific community to develop the fundamental enabling chemistry that will ultimately deliver clean fuels produced from the sun. (Project Overview)
Powering the Planet
CCI Happenings
CCI 2012 Annual Retreat Schedule
Friday, January 27, 2012
4:00 - 6:00 Registration – Waterfront Ballroom Foyer
6:00 - 8:00 Dinner – Cielo Mare Super
8:00 - 10:00 Session 1 - Hydrogen Evolving Catalysts, Salon A,B,C
8:00 - 8:05 Harry Gray - Welcome
8:05 - 8:10 Siddharth Dasgupta - Report and announcements
8:10 - 8:30 Hill Harman, Chris Uyeda – CIT
8:30 - 8:50 Mike Rose – CIT
8:50 - 9:10 Judy Lattimer – CIT
9:10 - 9:30 Smaranda Marinescu – CIT
9:30 - 9:50 Xile Hu – EPFL
9:50 – 10:10 Ray Schaak - PSU
Saturday, January 28, 2012
7:30 - 9:00 Breakfast – Cielo Mare Super
9:00 – 9:30 Group photo in lobby
9:30 - 12:30 Session 2 - Oxygen Evolving Catalysts, Salon A, B, C
9:30 - 9:50 Kwabena Bediako – MIT
9:50 - 10:10 James Gerken, Jamie Chen, Matt Rigsby – U. Wisconsin, Madison
10:10 - 10:30 Ozerov – Texas A&M
10:30 - 10:50 Break
10:50 – 11:10 Nazario Lopez – MIT
11:10 - 11:30 Kyoung-Shin Choi - Purdue
11:30 - 11:50 Brian Solis - PSU
11:50 - 12:30 James Stevens - DOW
12:30 – 2:00 Lunch, Cielo Mare Super
2:00 – 2:30 Poster setup
2:30 – 6:00 Session 3 - SHArK and Juice from Juice, Salon A, B, C
2:30 – 2:45 Jenny Schuttlefield, U. Wisconsin, Oshkosh
2:45 – 3:00 Hill Harman, Caltech
3:00 – 3:20 G Khalsa - Thiel
3:20 – 3:40 John Rowley – U. Wyoming
3:40 – 4:00 Polytechnic students
4:00 – 4:20 Shane Ardo - CIT
4:20 – 4:25 Samirah Mercado-Feliciano – UPR Mayaguez
4:25 – 4:30 Mike Walter – UNC Charlotte
4:30 – 4:45 David Brown – Southwestern College
4:45 - 6:00 Poster Session
6:00 - 7:30 Dinner, Salon D & E
8:00 – 10:00 Session 4 – Semi-conductors/Membranes, Salon A. B, C
8:00 - 8:20 James McKone & Shane Ardo – CIT
8:20 - 8:40 Junying Liu, Nicole Davis – MIT
8:40 - 9:00 Iman Yahyaie, Mike McDonald, Xiang Feng – U. Manitoba
9:00 - 9:20 Bruce Parkinson, Paul Newhouse – U. Wyoming
9:20 - 9:40 Yuan Ping – UC Davis
9:40 - 10:00 Tom Jaramillo - Stanford
Sunday, January 29, 2012
7:30 - 9:00 Breakfast Cielo Mare Super
9:00 – 11:00 Renewal Planning – 3 breakout sessions in parallel
11:00 – 11:20 Break
11:20 – 12:00 Joint session on reporting
12:00 – 1:30 Lunch and adjourn, Cielo Mare Super
12:00 – 1:30 SAB Lunch, Dolphin Room
Prof. Ray Schaak of Penn State joins CCI
Dr. Raymond Schaak is a Professor of Chemistry at Penn State University. Dr. Schaak received a B.S. degree in chemistry from Lebanon Valley College in 1998. In 2001, he received a Ph.D. in materials chemistry from Penn State University under the direction of Professor Thomas Mallouk. From 2001–2003, he was a postdoctoral research associate with Professor Robert Cava at Princeton University. In 2003, Dr. Schaak began his independent career as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Texas A&M University. In 2007, he moved to Penn State University as an Associate Professor of Chemistry, and was promoted to Professor in 2011. His research group focuses on developing new chemical strategies for the synthesis of nanoscale solid-state materials and applying these materials to problems at the forefront of modern materials research. Dr. Schaak has received several prestigious awards, including an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (1999), an NSF CAREER Award (2006), a Beckman Young Investigator Award (2006), a DuPont Young Professor Grant (2006), a Sloan Research Fellowship (2007), a Camille Dreyfus Teacher Scholar Award (2007), a Research Corporation Scialog Award for Solar Energy Conversion (2010), and the National Fresenius Award (2011). Dr. Schaak served as Awards Committee co-chair of the American Chemical Society's Division of Inorganic Chemistry (ACS DIC) from 2007–2011, and currently serves as chair-elect of the ACS DIC Nanoscience subdivision, as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Journal of Solid State Chemistry, and as an Associate Editor of ACS Nano.
Chris Uyeda named new CCI Fellow at Caltech
Christopher Uyeda was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. He attended the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Columbia University, graduating summa cum laude with a B.S. degree in biomedical engineering in 2005. During his time at Columbia, he worked in the laboratory of Professor Ronald Breslow studying organic reactions that are accelerated by the hydrophobic effect. He then moved to the department of chemistry and chemical biology at Harvard University where he began doctoral studies under the guidance of Professor Eric Jacobsen. His thesis work involved the application of hydrogen-bond donors as enantioselective catalysts for the Claisen rearrangement. During his time at Harvard, he was recognized on several occasions for his contributions as a teaching fellow, including for a graduate course in physical organic chemistry. After receiving a Ph.D. degree in chemistry in 2010, he moved to Caltech, where he has since been pursuing postdoctoral studies in the field of inorganic chemistry with Professor Jonas Peters. His work at Caltech has focused on the development of electrocatalytic reactions of importance to renewable energy.
James Blakemore to join CCI as Caltech CCI Fellow
James Blakemore was raised in south-central Kansas and did his undergraduate work at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas. While an undergraduate, he studied analytical chemistry and solar-energy conversion with Prof. Francis D’Souza, and graduated summa cum laude in 2007 with a B.S. in Chemistry and a B.A. in Spanish with a minor in Russian. He then enrolled at Yale University, where he is currently a PhD candidate studying with Professors Gary Brudvig and Robert Crabtree. His research is in the area of inorganic chemistry and artificial photosynthesis, specifically dealing with the chemistry of half-sandwich iridium complexes for water-oxidation catalysis. Most recently, he has focused on the development of a new method for distinguishing between homogeneous and heterogeneous water-oxidation catalysis using an electrochemical quartz crystal nanobalance. Since 2009, he has served as the college chemistry tutor for Berkeley College, one of Yale’s twelve residential colleges. In 2010, he attended the Lindau Meeting of Nobel Laureates and Students as a member of the American delegation. In 2012, he will start as a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Center for Chemical Innovation: Powering the Planet at the California Institute of Technology under the direction of Professors Harry Gray, Jonas Peters, and Nate Lewis.
Oleg Ozerov Wins ACS Pure Chemistry Award!
CCI PI Ozerov wins the prestigious ACS Pure Chemistry Award. For more on this story, see the following link:
Ozerov Honored by ACS with Prestigious Pure Chemistry Award
Solar Energy Stamps
Solar energy stamps from around the world!
 Argentina |  Hungary |  Israel |  Kenya |  Tonga |
Arbor Scientific Selling CCI Juice-from-Juice DSSC Kits
Arbor Scientific in Michigan is now the vendor for the Juice-from-Juice DSSC kits developed by CCI. Go to the link below to checkout the kits and a series of videos designed to help perform these activities in middle and high schools.
Juice from Juice: Dye Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC) Kit
SHARK High School Kids summer program
Local Pasadena area high school kids participating in summer research at Caltech.
They have been working on various aspects of SHARK:
LED Arrays, SMD Kit & Software Updates
Bismuth‐Vanadium Oxide as Stable Photoanode
Bi‐V=O Characterization: XPS, Raman, Reflectance
Water‐splitting Demos at Ni electrodes
Advances in Metal Oxide Printing
Sustainable Chemistry Video Conference
Harry Gray and Nate Lewis are among a host of chemists discussing the Future of Sustainable Chemistry in a video conference on August 16 at 11am (EST) sponsored by DOW Chemical Corporation.
Click on the link below to participate:
The Future We Create
CCI Solar Retreat 2012
The 2012 CCI Solar Retreat will convene at the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort in Huntington Beach, CA, January 27-29, 2012.
Click here to register.
Click here to register.
Solar Prague
CCI and Heyrovsky Institute jointly host a conference in Prague on Solar Fuels: Light Capture and Electron Flow from 23 to 26 May, 2011.
Nate Lewis' Odor Sensors
CCI PI Nate Lewis is on NBC Learn talking about eNose. NBC Learn reaches thousands of high schools across the country.
Click on image below to view
Click on image below to view
Cool Chemistry Day - U Minnesota - April 30, 2011
The SHArK project was introduced this year into the University of Minnesota’s Cool Chemistry Day 2011.
This event attracts girls in grades 7 to 9 to explore the world of chemistry with women in the graduate program in UMN’s Chemistry Department. The day features interactive workshops and demonstrations.
The SHArK project was one of nine possible workshops for the girls to attend. The SHArK project workshop had groups of 15-20 girls in 1-hour long workshops throughout the day worked with graduate students on the project.
This event attracts girls in grades 7 to 9 to explore the world of chemistry with women in the graduate program in UMN’s Chemistry Department. The day features interactive workshops and demonstrations.
The SHArK project was one of nine possible workshops for the girls to attend. The SHArK project workshop had groups of 15-20 girls in 1-hour long workshops throughout the day worked with graduate students on the project.
Water-Splitting Outreach hits local Pasadena High School Chemistry Classes
CCI-Solar Postdoctoral Fellow Mike Rose is using his recently funded NSF-ACC (American Competitiveness in Chemistry) fellowship to bring a hands-on water splitting experiment to high school students at PHS in Ms. Mary Hines Chemistry and Integrated Science classes.
Using a home-built amperostat that can use any store-bought battery, the students are able to split liquid water (H2O) into its gaseous elemental components, H2 and O2. Up to 15 mL of H2 (and 7.5 mL of O2) is generated and captured in the experiment to illustrate the principle of stoichiometry in chemical reactions.
Next term the students will use the electro-stations in conjunction with hobby solar panels to drive the same reaction using only sunlight.
Read more about it at http://www.h2fromh2o.org/
Using a home-built amperostat that can use any store-bought battery, the students are able to split liquid water (H2O) into its gaseous elemental components, H2 and O2. Up to 15 mL of H2 (and 7.5 mL of O2) is generated and captured in the experiment to illustrate the principle of stoichiometry in chemical reactions.
Next term the students will use the electro-stations in conjunction with hobby solar panels to drive the same reaction using only sunlight.
Read more about it at http://www.h2fromh2o.org/
CCI Annual Retreat Photos
Solar Army HS student Elynna Youm wins scholarship to attend college
Elynna Youm, a senior at Harmony Science Academy in Texas, and a participant in Oleg Ozerov's SHArK outreach program, won a scholarship to attend Washington University, St. Louis in Fall 2011.
Elynna is featured as a Harmony Science Academy Tiger on her school's web page - hsabcs.org/
Elynna attributes her participation in SHArK, in part, to her winning the $26,000 scholarship.
She was an attendee at the CCI Annual Retreat in 2010. Congratulations to Elynna and the TAMU SHArK team!
Elynna is featured as a Harmony Science Academy Tiger on her school's web page - hsabcs.org/
Elynna attributes her participation in SHArK, in part, to her winning the $26,000 scholarship.
She was an attendee at the CCI Annual Retreat in 2010. Congratulations to Elynna and the TAMU SHArK team!
President mentions Solar Fuels in his 2011 State of the Union Speech
President Obama mentions Solar Fuels project in the context of our current "Sputnik moment".
See www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2011/01/26/2011-state-union-address-enhanced-version
The mention about the effort is around 20:20 into the speech.
See www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2011/01/26/2011-state-union-address-enhanced-version
The mention about the effort is around 20:20 into the speech.
CCI adds new SAB member
Mark Nelson, Director of Generation Planning and Strategy at Southern California Edison, is our newest Science Advisory Board Member. He takes up the position held by Pedro Pizarro, who is moving to another position within SCE with greater responsibilities.
Mark is currently the Director of Generation Planning and Strategy for Southern California Edison in Rosemead, CA. He has broad responsibility for the policy, expansion, and strategic planning of power generation, including new and existing fossil, nuclear, and renewable sources. Recent Edison projects and feasibility studies include a 250 MW rooftop solar PV program, an on-site fuel cell power program at state university campuses, a feasibility study for a 250 MW IGCC with carbon capture and sequestration, and a number of other cutting-edge projects.
Nelson previously was the manager of Strategic Projects in the Resource Planning and Strategy Department. He joined SCE as a planning engineer in 1991 and held various management positions, including manager of Real-Time Pricing and Customer Software Systems. In 1996, he joined Edison Source, an SCE affiliate, and held a number of management positions, including director of Retail Energy Operations.
Before joining SCE, Nelson was a consultant for Midwest Solar Inc., a leading national supplier of solar thermal systems. He held management and analysis positions with subsidiaries of MidAmerican Energy, with responsibility for generation and transmission projects, economic analysis, regulatory affairs, and customer services.
A published author of energy-related books, Nelson earned a bachelor’s degree in economics, with an emphasis on chemical engineering and systems, and a master’s degree in econometrics, with an emphasis on electricity-demand analysis, from Iowa State University. In addition, he has served as an adjunct professor of economics.
Mark is currently the Director of Generation Planning and Strategy for Southern California Edison in Rosemead, CA. He has broad responsibility for the policy, expansion, and strategic planning of power generation, including new and existing fossil, nuclear, and renewable sources. Recent Edison projects and feasibility studies include a 250 MW rooftop solar PV program, an on-site fuel cell power program at state university campuses, a feasibility study for a 250 MW IGCC with carbon capture and sequestration, and a number of other cutting-edge projects.
Nelson previously was the manager of Strategic Projects in the Resource Planning and Strategy Department. He joined SCE as a planning engineer in 1991 and held various management positions, including manager of Real-Time Pricing and Customer Software Systems. In 1996, he joined Edison Source, an SCE affiliate, and held a number of management positions, including director of Retail Energy Operations.
Before joining SCE, Nelson was a consultant for Midwest Solar Inc., a leading national supplier of solar thermal systems. He held management and analysis positions with subsidiaries of MidAmerican Energy, with responsibility for generation and transmission projects, economic analysis, regulatory affairs, and customer services.
A published author of energy-related books, Nelson earned a bachelor’s degree in economics, with an emphasis on chemical engineering and systems, and a master’s degree in econometrics, with an emphasis on electricity-demand analysis, from Iowa State University. In addition, he has served as an adjunct professor of economics.
CCI Annual Retreat 2011
CCI Annual Retreat will be held from Friday evening January 21, 2011 to Sunday morning (adjourn after breakfast) January 23, 2011.
The location will be the Huntington Beach Waterfront Hilton, same venue as for the 2010 retreat.
Schedule:
Friday, January 21, 2011
4:00 - 6:00 Registration – Waterfront Ballroom Foyer
6:00 - 8:00 Dinner – Cielo Mare
8:00 - 10:00 Session 1 - Hydrogen Evolving Catalysts, Salon A,B,C
8:00 - 8:05 Harry Gray - Welcome
8:05 - 8:10 Siddharth Dasgupta - Report and announcements
8:10 - 8:30 Charles McCrory - CIT
8:30 - 8:50 James McKone - CIT
8:50 - 9:10 Qixi Mi - CIT
9:10 - 9:30 Mike Rose - CIT
9:30 - 9:50 Xile Hu
Saturday, January 22, 2011
7:30 - 9:00 Breakfast – Cielo Mare
9:00 – 9:30 Group photo in lobby
9:30 - 12:10 Session 2 - Oxygen Evolving Catalysts, Salon A, B, C
9:30 - 9:50 Dilek Dogutan Kiper - MIT
9:50 - 10:10 Matt Rigsby – U. Wisconsin, Madison
10:10 - 10:30 Rafael Huacuja – Texas A&M
10:30 - 10:50 Break
10:50 - 11:10 Nazario Lopez - MIT
11:10 - 11:30 Morrisa Regis - Purdue
11:30 - 11:50 Brian Solis - PSU
11:50 - 12:10 New Approaches to Proton Reduction with Iron Nitrosyls as Electrocatalysts - Marcetta Darensbourg – TAMU
12:00 - 1:30 Lunch, Cielo Mare
2:00 – 5:00 Session 3 - Semi-conductors/Membranes, Salon A. B, C
2:00 - 2:20 Matt Bierman - CIT
2:20 - 2:40 Nicole Davis & Junying Liu - MIT
2:40 - 3:00 Manitoba group
3:00 - 3:20 Break
3:20 - 3:40 Ed Walker - Southern
3:40 - 4:00 Bruce Parkinson – U. Wyoming
4:00 – 4:20 Giulia Galli – UC Davis
4:20 - 4:40 Blaise Pinaud - Stanford
4:40 – 5:00 Wrap Up of science presented
5:00 - 6:00 Free Time; Poster Setup time
6:00 - 8:00 Dinner, Cielo Mare
8:00 - 9:30 Session 4 – SHArK and Juice from Juice, Salon A, B, C
8:00 – 8:05 Jenny Schuttlefield, U. Wisconsin, Oshkosh
8:05 – 8:20 James McKone, Caltech
8:20 – 8:35 Justin Saumbur, U. Wyoming
8:35 – 8:50 Casey Raymond, SUNY Oswego
8:50 – 9:05 John Kenney, Concordia
9:05 – 9:20 Mike Walters, Caltech
9:30 - 11:00 Poster Session & Reception, Salon A, B, C
Sunday, January 23, 2011
7:00 - 8:30 Breakfast & adjourn, Cielo Mare
7:00 – 9:00 Science Advisory Board Meeting, Dolphin Room
The location will be the Huntington Beach Waterfront Hilton, same venue as for the 2010 retreat.
Schedule:
Friday, January 21, 2011
4:00 - 6:00 Registration – Waterfront Ballroom Foyer
6:00 - 8:00 Dinner – Cielo Mare
8:00 - 10:00 Session 1 - Hydrogen Evolving Catalysts, Salon A,B,C
8:00 - 8:05 Harry Gray - Welcome
8:05 - 8:10 Siddharth Dasgupta - Report and announcements
8:10 - 8:30 Charles McCrory - CIT
8:30 - 8:50 James McKone - CIT
8:50 - 9:10 Qixi Mi - CIT
9:10 - 9:30 Mike Rose - CIT
9:30 - 9:50 Xile Hu
Saturday, January 22, 2011
7:30 - 9:00 Breakfast – Cielo Mare
9:00 – 9:30 Group photo in lobby
9:30 - 12:10 Session 2 - Oxygen Evolving Catalysts, Salon A, B, C
9:30 - 9:50 Dilek Dogutan Kiper - MIT
9:50 - 10:10 Matt Rigsby – U. Wisconsin, Madison
10:10 - 10:30 Rafael Huacuja – Texas A&M
10:30 - 10:50 Break
10:50 - 11:10 Nazario Lopez - MIT
11:10 - 11:30 Morrisa Regis - Purdue
11:30 - 11:50 Brian Solis - PSU
11:50 - 12:10 New Approaches to Proton Reduction with Iron Nitrosyls as Electrocatalysts - Marcetta Darensbourg – TAMU
12:00 - 1:30 Lunch, Cielo Mare
2:00 – 5:00 Session 3 - Semi-conductors/Membranes, Salon A. B, C
2:00 - 2:20 Matt Bierman - CIT
2:20 - 2:40 Nicole Davis & Junying Liu - MIT
2:40 - 3:00 Manitoba group
3:00 - 3:20 Break
3:20 - 3:40 Ed Walker - Southern
3:40 - 4:00 Bruce Parkinson – U. Wyoming
4:00 – 4:20 Giulia Galli – UC Davis
4:20 - 4:40 Blaise Pinaud - Stanford
4:40 – 5:00 Wrap Up of science presented
5:00 - 6:00 Free Time; Poster Setup time
6:00 - 8:00 Dinner, Cielo Mare
8:00 - 9:30 Session 4 – SHArK and Juice from Juice, Salon A, B, C
8:00 – 8:05 Jenny Schuttlefield, U. Wisconsin, Oshkosh
8:05 – 8:20 James McKone, Caltech
8:20 – 8:35 Justin Saumbur, U. Wyoming
8:35 – 8:50 Casey Raymond, SUNY Oswego
8:50 – 9:05 John Kenney, Concordia
9:05 – 9:20 Mike Walters, Caltech
9:30 - 11:00 Poster Session & Reception, Salon A, B, C
Sunday, January 23, 2011
7:00 - 8:30 Breakfast & adjourn, Cielo Mare
7:00 – 9:00 Science Advisory Board Meeting, Dolphin Room
Dr. Matt Carlson's Science Theater Interviews CCI Members
 |  |  | Dr. Matt Carlson conducted a series of interviews with Caltech scientists Harry Gray, Jillian Dempsey, and Nathan Lewis about the CCI Solar Project. The videos can be seen here. |
CCI welcomes a new Investigator
 | CCI welcomes Prof. Thomas F. Jaramillo as a new agility PI. Tom is an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at Stanford University with research interests in the areas of photoelectrochemistry and electrocatalysis. A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Jaramillo traveled to California to pursue his higher education. He attended Stanford University where he earned his BS in Chemical Engineering before heading to the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) to pursue his M.S. and PhD in Chemical Engineering with Prof. Eric McFarland. In 2005, Jaramillo was awarded the H.C. Ørsted Post-doctoral Fellowship, which supported his work at the Technical University of Denmark on projects together with Prof. Ib Chorkendorff and Prof. Jens Nørskov in the Dept. of Physics. Jaramillo then started his independent career at Stanford University in the fall of 2007. Dr. Jaramillo has established a laboratory centered on solar fuels, where he investigates the bulk and surface materials properties of metals and semiconductors in relation to photoelectrochemistry and electrocatalysis. Since 2002, Dr. Jaramillo has authored or co-authored over 20 peer-reviewed journal articles in areas central to electrocatalytic and photoelectrochemical energy conversion. In recognition of his work, Jaramillo has recently been awarded the Mohr-Davidow Ventures “MDV Innovator” Award, the Hellman Faculty-Scholar Award, as well as the National Science Foundation’s BRIGE Award. |
CCI Summer Student featured in C&E News
 | CCI Summer Student Kedy Edme was recently featured in a Chemical & Engineering News article about ACS Scholars. Read the article here. |
CCI Solar Gets New Kratos Ultra XPS
 | The CCI Solar Laboratory recently received a new Kratos Ultra XPS machine. To learn more details about this machine click here. |
Scientific Advisory Board Welcomes Two New Members
 |  | The CCI Solar Scientific Advisory Board is pleased to welcome two new members. Terry Smith of the Corporate Research Materials Laboratory at 3M and James Stevens of the Dow Chemical Company. |
Professor Nate Lewis featured on Big Think website
 | CCI Principal Investigator Nate Lewis was recently featured on the global information forum bigthink.com where he recorded a series of videos regarding renewable energy and the CCI Solar Project. These videos can be seen at: http://bigthink.com/natelewis. |
Solar Fuels Summer Researchers
 Christian working on programming the printing apparatus |  Dylan working under the supervision of James |  Simone dealing with chemicals in the laboratory. |
 John working at his lab station |  Claire working on the lab computer |  Harry Gray speaks at the first group meeting of the summer. |
 Chris presents his work on the solar fuels research project. |  Dylan addresses the group consisting of Gray group members, SURFs, and others. |  The Solar fuels team discusses what they have accomplished so far this summer. |
High School and Undergraduate Researchers are working at Caltech this summer on the solar fuels research project.
New SHArK Map
New CCI Publication from Galli Group
High-Energy Excitations in Silicon Nanoparticles
Adam Gali, Mrton Vrs, Dario Rocca, Gergely T. Zimanyi, & Giulia Galli
Nano Lett., 2009, 9 (11), pp 3780–3785
DOI: 10.1021/nl901970u
Publication Date (Web): September 28, 2009
Adam Gali, Mrton Vrs, Dario Rocca, Gergely T. Zimanyi, & Giulia Galli
Nano Lett., 2009, 9 (11), pp 3780–3785
DOI: 10.1021/nl901970u
Publication Date (Web): September 28, 2009
 | We have investigated high energy excitations in 1−2 nm Si nanoparticles (NPs) by ab initio time-dependent density functional calculations, focusing on the influence on excitation spectra, of surface reconstruction, surface passivation by alkyl groups, and the interaction between NPs. We have found that surface reconstruction may change excitation spectra dramatically at both low and high energies above the gap; absorption may be enhanced nonlinearly by the presence of alkyl groups, compared to that of unreconstructed, hydrogenated Si NPs, and by the interaction between NPs. Our findings can help interpret the recent experiments on multielectron generation in colloidal semiconductor NPs as well as help optimize photovoltaic applications of NPs. |
CCI PI Sharon Hammes-Schiffer Guest Editor of ACR on Solar Fuels
CCI Annual Retreat Pictures
Feb Group Meeting: Making Stable III-V Semiconductor Photoanodes for Water Oxidation
 | Dr. Nick Strandwitz of Caltech reviewed the progress toward making stable III-V semiconductor photoanodes for water oxidation. An I-V curve for a tandem p-Si | pn-GaP System photoelectrodes in cobaltacene/cobatacium solution is shown at left. The tandem cell can generates a photo-potential that is capable of splitting water. Semiconductor p/n juctions of GaP show good stability at pH 7 in water solution at potentials capable of oxidizing water when coated with a ITO layer. |
Paula Hammond meets with the President
 | Paula Hammond met with President Barack Obama during his October 23 visit to MIT where he delivered a speech on renewable energy. The President saw demonstrations of ongoing research and met with faculty members who are conducting that work. Streaming video from the meeting can be seen here. |
12-1-2010 Permissions need to be set on this. Do they need an account to access it?
1-31-2011 There are dozens of spurious blog entries, posted by Anonymous, from various IP addresses. Need to stop it!
1-31-2011 There are dozens of spurious blog entries, posted by Anonymous, from various IP addresses. Need to stop it!
Read more | 2274 comment
- Last poster:
Anonymous
