Publication Date

8-2023

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

Lawrence Hill, Mathew Nee, Bangbo Yan

Degree Program

Department of Chemistry

Degree Type

Master of Science

Abstract

Metal-semiconductor hybrids have been studied extensively as photocatalysts for the watersplitting reaction to generate hydrogen gas and oxygen gas to use as a renewable energy source. The semiconductor component converts light into electrochemical energy, while the metal component provides a site for chemical reactions with water. Here, the choice of metal can have a significant impact on the efficiency of the catalyst. Platinum efficiently catalyzes the watersplitting reaction and is therefore commonly used in metal-semiconductor hybrids to generate hydrogen. Platinum is very expensive, which motivates research into improving less costly metals like iron or nickel that do not have nearly the catalytic performance of platinum. Recent results have shown that iron and nickel can be combined into structures with oxygen that behave similarly to platinum as catalysts for water-splitting on electrodes, but these materials have not been tested as replacements for platinum in metal-semiconductor photocatalysts. This thesis will describe our work toward synthesizing metal-semiconductor hybrids using iron and nickel to replace platinum.

Disciplines

Chemistry | Physical Sciences and Mathematics

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