Structure and chemical reactivity in photoelectrochemical systems

The aim of this project is to develop and test a sample environment for characterizing photoelectrochemical processes during surface x-ray diffraction experiments.

Photo-electrochemical processes are particular electrochemical processes that involve the transformation of light in other form of energy.  These processes are at the base of dye-sensitized solar cells,  photoelectrochemical reduction of CO2 and photoelectrochemical splitting of water that is used for the production of hydrogen from water and solar energy. In order to prepare more efficient electrodes for such processes it's important to understand the relations between the chemical behaviour of the materials and their structure. The I07 beamline is using high energy x-rays to investigate the structure of liquid-solid interfaces and thanks to exceptional brilliance of its source is capable to measure the crystallographic structure of nanometric films and single atomic layers on the crystalline electrode surfaces during reaction conditions. 

The successful candidate will be working on the design and commissioning of a new cell for in-situ/operando photoelectrochemical experiments at the I07 surface diffraction beamline. During the project the cell will be used at the beamline for the characterization of model electrochemical systems for photo-electrochemical water splitting.