Current Position

Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Concurrent Professor, Department of Physics

Education

Ph.D., Physical Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
B.A., Chemistry, Washington University

Research Interests

     Quantum Dot and Nanowire Solar Cells: Solution-synthesized semiconductor nanostructures exhibit a number of useful properties that make them attractive building blocks for next generation solar photovoltaics. They include: low manufacturing costs, potential scalability, linear to branched morphologies, as well as multiple exciton generation capabilities. Size-tunable electron affinities, band gaps and corresponding ionization potentials can also be exploited to enhance device performance. The solution processability of these systems simultaneously enables the facile creation of heterojunctions, which can efficiently separate photogenerated charges. The Kuno group has previously explored the use of colloidal quantum dots as well as solution-based nanowires to construct nanostructure-sensitized solar cells. These studies have enabled the group to develop fundamental insight into charge transfer processes responsible for device performance. The Kuno group's future studies, therefore, seek to exploit this knowledge in developing all inorganic devices that take advantage of the improved charge separation efficiencies of hybrid nanostructures. Furthermore, the group has recently discovered a procedure for creating macroscopic nanowire yarns that exhibit sizable photoconductivities. These yarns consist of millions of nanowires aligned along the same direction and have lengths as long as 25 cm. Nanowire yarns can be made of a variety of materials (e.g. ZnSe, CdS, CdSe, CdTe, PbS, and PbSe). Mixed compositions are even possible. The Kuno group proposes that such yarns may eventually be used to develop solar textiles wherein the nanowire fabric acts as the active element of the solar cell.
     Hybrid Photocatalytic Nanostructures: Rapid developments in the synthesis of low dimensional materials such as colloidal quantum dots and semiconductor nanowires simultaneously mean timely opportunities for advancing the basic science behind solar energy conversion to chemical fuels. As with solar cells, interest in these materials arises because of their unique size- as well as shape-dependent optical, electrical and chemical properties. These size-tunable features open up opportunities for enhancing and even controlling fundamental charge separation at the molecular level. The Kuno group has therefore pursued the development of hybrid nanostructures based on nanowires. This has entailed producing core/shell nanowire systems to improve charge carrier lifetimes by taking advantage of favorable electronic band offsets present at core/shell heterojunctions. Such systems have since been employed in the photocatalytic generation of hydrogen. At the same time, the Kuno group has investigated the use of mixed semiconductor/metal nanostructures by decorating both core and core/shell nanowires with noble metal nanoparticles. This has led to sizable increases in nanowire photocatalyst hydrogen generation efficiencies due to the efficient spatial separation of photogenerated charges.

Key Words

Hydrogen, Nanostructure, Nanowires, Photocatalysis, Quantum Dots, Solar, Solar Photovoltaics, Solar to Fuels/Chemicals

Relevant Energy Publications

1. Mattiotti, Francesco, Masaru Kuno, Fausto Borgonovi, Boldizsár Jankó, and G. Luca Celardo. "Thermal decoherence of superradiance in lead halide perovskite nanocrystal superlattices." Nano Letters 20, no. 10 (2020): 7382-7388.
2. Elmelund, Tor, Brian Seger, Masaru Kuno, and Prashant V. Kamat. "How interplay between photo and thermal activation dictates halide ion segregation in mixed halide perovskites." ACS Energy Letters 5, no. 1 (2019): 56-63.
3. Kuno, Masaru, and Michael C. Brennan. "What exactly causes light-induced halide segregation in mixed-halide perovskites?." Matter 2, no. 1 (2020): 21-23.
4. Brennan, Michael C., Anthony Ruth, Prashant V. Kamat, and Masaru Kuno. "Photoinduced anion segregation in mixed halide perovskites." Trends in Chemistry 2, no. 4 (2020): 282-301.
5. Brennan, Michael C., Stefano Toso, Ilia M. Pavlovetc, Maksym Zhukovskyi, Sergio Marras, Masaru Kuno, Liberato Manna, and Dmitry Baranov. "Superlattices are greener on the other side: How light transforms self-assembled mixed halide perovskite nanocrystals." ACS Energy Letters 5, no. 5 (2020): 1465-1473.

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