| Description | Thermochemistry of Redox Active Oxides and its Relevance to Solar Fuel Generation Laboratories around the world are pursuing a variety of promising strategies for converting solar energy into a reliable energy source for on-demand utilization. We describe here a thermochemical approach for achieving this goal using solar heat as the energy source and redox active non-stoichiometric oxides as the reaction medium. Specifically, upon exposure to high temperatures and/or inert gas, the oxide undergoes reduction (without change in crystalline phase) to release oxygen. Upon exposure to H2O (or CO2), the oxide is reoxidized, releasing H2 (or CO). We compare the thermochemical fuel production behavior of a variety of oxides, including those of the fluorite structure-type (ceria and its derivatives) and those of the perovskite structure-type (La1-xSrxMnO3). A shared characteristic of the most promising materials is that bulk oxygen diffusion (chemical diffusion) is fast such that fuel production rates are limited either by surface reaction kinetics or, at high temperatures, gas-phase mass transfer rates. These insights guide the effort to discover advanced materials required for the realization of solar-driven thermochemical fuel production. Bio: Sossina M. Haile is the Walter P. Murphy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University, a position she assumed in 2015 after serving 18 years on the faculty at the California Institute of Technology. She earned her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1992. Haile’s research broadly encompasses solid state ionic materials and devices, with particular focus on energy technologies. She has established a new class of fuel cells based on solid acid electrolytes and demonstrated record power densities for solid oxide fuel cells. Her more recent work on water dissociation for solar-fuel generation by thermochemical processes has created new avenues for harnessing sunlight to meet rising energy demands. She has published more than 150 articles and holds more than 15 patents on these and other topics. Amongst her many awards, in 2008 Haile received an American Competitiveness and Innovation (ACI) Fellowship from the National Science Foundation in recognition of “her timely and transformative research in the energy field and her dedication to inclusive mentoring, education and outreach across many levels.” |
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