Leveraging the Electrochromic Effect in Soft PhotoElectroChemical Systems (SPECS) Understanding Processes for Solar Fuels and Energy Storage

Highly scalable, durable π-conjugated polymer materials provide control over local environments afforded through synthesis, long-lived charge carrier lifetimes, and flexible, low-cost, and scalable thin film formats which circumvent the shortcomings of inorganic materials (surface states, grain boundaries, challenges in processing, and mechanically unstable platforms). The Center for <u>S</u>oft <u>P</u>hoto<u>E</u>lectro<u>C</u>hemical <u>S</u>ystems (SPECS) is a newly funded Energy Frontier Research Center that focuses on the basic science questions that underpin the development of low-cost, robust energy conversion and energy storage technologies based on new organic polymer (plastic) electronic materials. These materials are predicted to fill a critical position in the U.S. energy portfolio, providing for next-generation fuel-forming platforms (energy conversion) and batteries (energy storage) that cannot currently be achieved with conventional (hard) inorganic materials.<br/><br/>SPECS’ mission is to understand the factors controlling charge and matter transport processes that underpin emerging energy conversion (i.e. catalysis) and energy storage technologies across spatiotemporal scales to guide durable soft material development and optimization. The realization of all-organic semiconductor systems that capture light energy and convert it into chemical energy requires a detailed understanding of structure-property relationships governing the interconnected dynamics of photo-generation, transport, and electron transfer across multiple interfaces. Dark electrochemical processes must be understood before increasing the complexity via light-matter interactions. This talk will focus on increasing complex, multiple interface platforms, towards the goal of photons-to-electrons-to-molecules energy conversion processes. A number of <i>in situ/operando</i> spectroelectrochemical and photoelectron spectroscopy capabilities will be discussed for this exciting new area of energy conversion.