DOE EFRC: Center for Soft PhotoElectroChemcial Systems (SPECS).
The SPECS vision is to use low-cost, highly scalable, durable polymer (plastic) materials for energy conversion and storage technologies to help achieve the renewable energy goals of the U.S. by 2050. SPECS’ mission is to understand the factors controlling charge and matter transport processes that underpin emerging photocatalysis and energy storage technologies at conductive polymer/electrolyte interfaces across spatiotemporal scales to guide durable soft material development and optimization. For SPECS, the Lian group is developing and applying in situ time-resolved spectroscopy techniques, especially time-resolved Raman spectroscopy, to probe the dynamics of polarons and interfacial charge transfer in soft photocathodes for light driven H2 generation.
a) Operando spectroscopic mapping of energy levels in soft photocathodes for H2
b) In situ transient absorption study of charge transfer processes in soft photocathode
The SPECS team is diverse and inclusive, and spans a wide range of scientific disciplines, from some of the top research universities and national labs in the U.S., including: The University of Arizona, the National Renewable Energy Labs (NREL), University of Colorado Boulder, Georgia Institute of Technology, Emory University, The University of Kentucky, Purdue University, and Stanford University. For details, please see the SPECS home page (https://live-azs-specs.pantheonsite.io/)