Nanoscale Microscopy and Spectroscopy of Energy Materials

A promising approach to directly convert sunlight into storable fuels is photoelectrochemical energy conversion. Economically viable and scalable photosystems are often based on semiconducting thin films. These photoelectrodes exhibit locally varying material properties, from the nanoscale to the microscale. To date, typical macroscale characterization techniques average the performance and fundamental properties over the whole photoelectrode and conceal important nanoscale insights. The Focus Group around Rudolf Mößbauer Tenure Track Professor Johanna Eichhorn leverages a complementary suite of advanced nanoscale microscopy and spectroscopy techniques to reveal the local processes of semiconductor photoelectrodes under realistic operation conditions. The gained comprehensive portrait of the elementary steps associated with light-to-chemical energy will provide the knowledge basis for rational development of efficient, stable, and scalable solar fuel devices.