Regensburg 2016 – scientific programme

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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik

O 82: Structure of Solid/Liquid Interfaces I

O 82.10: Talk

Thursday, March 10, 2016, 12:45–13:00, H6

Surface engineering of nanomaterials for electrochemical energy conversion and storage — •Min Zhou and Yong Lei — Institute for Physics and IMN MacroNano*, Ilmenau University of Technology, Ilmenau 98693, Germany

In view of the worldwide energy challenge in the 21st century, the electrochemical technologies have received considerable attention for energy conversion (i.e. photoelectrochemical water splitting) and storage (i.e. secondary ion battery). Nearly all chemical transformations related to energy conversion and storage take place at the surfaces and interfaces between electrode and electrolyte. Hence, surface engineering of nanomaterials offers the possibility to optimize the final electrochemical devices. We employ three-dimensional (3D) ordered porous architectures to illuminate the important role of surface science for energy conversion and storage. For example, a 3D ordered macro-mesoporous architecture of BiVO4 is first fabricated through a modified colloidal crystal template method. Superior photocurrent densities are achieved in return for controllable surface-to-volume ratio. This advantage can be further enhanced within the photoelectrodes of faster charge transport. As for electrochemical storage, 3D ordered porous architecture of amorphous TiO2 is chose as a proof-of-concept prototype to illuminate the importance of surface design for rate capability in sodium ion batteries. The enhancement is primarily attributed to effective surface ion availability by increasing the roughness of the electrode surface. Both the results of energy conversion and storage highlight the great significance of surface engineering for energy-related area.