2019 Forgash Scholar
Amal Sebastian
Atmospheric pressure plasma: a novel tool for the synthesis of efficient photocatalytic materials
Department of Physics
Faculty Advisor: Sylwia Ptasinska
Photocatalytic splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen is a method to convert solar energy into storable chemical energy directly, and it has received significant attention for its high potential for low cost and clean energy production. Developing efficient and cost-effective photocatalysts for water splitting is a growing need for solar energy research. Though there are numerous traditional methods to prepare photocatalytic materials, most of them are vacuum based. These are often costly and complex. Atmospheric pressure plasma (APP) discharges, being a very novel and versatile technique is one of the emerging tools to cost-effective solutions for many processing challenges in material science. Its feasibilities in modifying surfaces, and depositing materials with minimal chemical waste have always fascinated the scientific community. The ability of APP to tune porosity and crystallinity along with its aptness in modifying deposited films makes it an attractive candidate to prepare photocatalytic materials. The scope of this project is to effectively use such properties of APP to deposit suitable photocatalytic materials successfully. This project hence would shed light on this vital problem and will allow us to explore how effectively we can deposit photocatalytic materials using plasma. The outcome of this project can possibly open a new route to think of alternative deposition tools like APP which can offer economy and effectiveness at the same time.