This is the monthly networking meeting for faculty affiliated with NDnano. New faculty are welcome! For more information on affiliating with the Center, please contact Heidi Deethardt at deethardt.1@nd.edu.

Presenters:
Svetlana Neretina, Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering
Greg Hartland, Chemistry & Biochemistry

Professor Neretina and Professor Hartland will give an update on their NDnano seed grant research "Harvesting hot electrons for plasmonic photochemistry and photovoltaics"

Abstract: With the understanding that solar-powered societies provide the opportunity for global sustainability comes the pressing need for revolutionary technologies that harness the energy of the sun. When reduced to the nanoscale, certain metals have the extraordinary property of being able to focus light energy into small volumes and subsequently impart this energy to the electrons within the metal. These so-called “hot electrons” are ideal for catalyzing chemical reactions and for energy conversion within photovoltaics. The goal of this research is to discover how to effectively utilize these short-lived hot electrons before their energy is transformed into heat. To achieve this outcome, nanofabrication techniques will be used to generate well-defined and well-characterized nanoscale architectures whose photochemical and photophysical properties will be examined using ultrafast spectroscopic techniques. The knowledge gained will advance a broader vision that sees the sun’s energy converted, not only into electricity, but used in chemical processes that generate fuels through water splitting and converts greenhouse gases into valuable products.