DTU Studieprojekt - Nanostructured ceria films for photocatalytic water splitting and hydrogen production

Nanostructured ceria films for photocatalytic water splitting and hydrogen production

Udbyder
Vejleder
Sted
København og omegn
Background
Splitting H2O molecules into H2 and O2 molecules using sustainable energy sources is a promising process for producing hydrogen, an interesting energy carrier for energy storage. Cerium oxide (ceria) possesses promising characteristics for this type of application, because of its bandgap, which can be tuned by doping to be in the suitable range for solar light driven water splitting. However, photocatalytic processes take place more efficiently on specific crystalline surfaces so that a randomly oriented microstructure is not the most favourable configuration. Using special metal substrates in which a preferential crystallographic orientation has been engineered, it is expected that ceria films with suitable morphology for enhanced photocatalytic water splitting can be obtained. The goal of this project is to make ceria thin films on cube textured Ni-W metal substrates, characterize their microstructure and to test their water splitting ability in comparison to randomly oriented ceria films.

During this project you are going to:
-Manufacture ceria films on cube textured metal substrates using a chemical solution deposition technique.

-Conduct characterization of your samples by means of X-ray diffraction, optical and electron microscopy, as well as various spectroscopy techniques.

-Conduct experiments of photocatalytic water splitting to evaluate the performance of your samples.

-Analyze your results using theoretical models and compare them with published data.

Learning objectives:
At the end of this project you will be able to:

-Explain the principles of photocatalytic water splitting and of its potential applications.

-Develop a chemical solution deposition recipe for making functional oxide thin films.

-Use various experimental characterization tools (X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, thermal analysis, spectroscopy) and explain their basic principles as well as limitations.

-Critically evaluate your results.

-Draw links between processing parameters, microstructure and performance.

-Perform an efficient literature search and compare your own results to published data.

-Present your results to a scientific audience under conditions equivalent to an international conference.

-Write the draft of a scientific publication.

Contact: Jean-Claude Grivel (jean@dtu.dk) – DTU Energy, building 301

Emneord

• Energi
• Bioenergi
• Brændselsceller
• Elforsyning
• Energieffektivisering
• Energilagring
• Energiproduktion
• Energisystemer
• Kraftværker
• Solenergi
• Vindenergi
• Klimatilpasning

Navn
Jean-Claude Grivel

Stilling
Seniorforsker

Mail
jean@dtu.dk

Vejleder-info
Kandidatuddannelsen i Bæredygtig Energi
Vejleder
Jean-Claude Grivel

ECTS-point
30

Type
Kandidatspeciale