Energy Generation: Tackling Big Challenges Using Tiny Crystals

Understanding that fossil fuels are not endless and that their extensive use is causing irreversible, climate changes prompts us to realize we are in urgent need of sustainable energy processes, energy vectors, and solutions to reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.  Replacing fossil fuels while maintaining our current standard of living may be possible, with the solution in tiny pieces of matter: nanocrystals. Nanocrystals have been known about for a long time but it is only recently that we have been able to better study and control their properties. The advent of nanotechnology and its associated tools allows us to manipulate the composition, size, shape, functionalization, and assembly of nanocrystals and to create nanoarchitectures and macroscopic devices with novel properties and unrivaled performance. In this talk, the use of uniform and tailored nanocrystals for energy and environmental applications will be presented, with an emphasis on how to precisely control the nanostructures to understand and exploit interactions between well-defined building blocks. Applications include hydrogen generation through photocatalysis, reduction of methane emissions, pollution control, and solar cells.

Speaker: Matteo Cargnello, Stanford

Fisher Conference Rooms