Charge-transfer reactions of colloidal metal oxide nanocrystals

Boundaries between different components are centrally important to the functioning of nearly all devices designed for “harvesting” and storing renewable energy from the sun. The most important components of these devices are often made from solid metal oxides, within which electrons can be taken up from specially designed liquids, stored, and later released. Despite the importance of the reactions occuring at the boundaries between solid metal oxides and liquids, our understanding of precisely what happens there is very limited. In fact, boundaries such as these represent a “frontier” area of modern science. Now, scientists from Yale University and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev will address this important challenge. Both are experts in the movement of electrons between molecules, and in proposed research, will pool their collective expertise to study how electrons are taken up and released by metal-oxide nanoparticles. The reactions of these nanoparticles can shed new light on how electrons behave at the less easily studied boundaries present at the surfaces of functional materials in actual devices. Ultimately, this information can be used by scientists and engineers directly involved in the development of advanced renewable-energy technologies.