NQPI NanoForum presents Mayur Sundararajan on “Solar Hydrogen Production Using Nanoporous Glasses” on Tuesday, Oct. 28, at 4 p.m. at Clippinger 259.
Mayur Sundararajan
His adviser is Dr. Gang Chen, Professor of Physics and Astronomy. NanoForums are presented several times per semester and are sponsored by Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute.
Abstract: Hydrogen has many advantages as a fuel source such as zero emission, renewability, clean. Even though it is abundant, it occurs mostly in the form of compounds in nature. This means there is an expense of energy to generate hydrogen as a fuel. Solar energy is non-exhaustible and clean, so it can be used to split the compound and generate hydrogen. One of the techniques for obtaining hydrogen by solar energy is splitting up of water by photocatalysis which is a photo induced chemical reaction. These photocatalysis occur due to the presence of semiconductors known as photocatalysts. Photocatalysts exist in many different forms, using them in the form of nanoporous glasses expands the range of materials that can be used for this technique. Optical bandgap of the photocatalyst plays a vital role in the efficiency of solar water splitting application. Some interesting properties of nanoporous glasses can be used to tune the bandgap of the photocatalyst and increase its efficiency.
Future NanoForums will be held on Nov. 4, Nov. 18, and Dec. 2.
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