Syllabus
1. Introduction to the subject, energy sources, the Sun as the ultimate source of renewable energy, the use of renewable energy before and now, the cycle of production / acquisition-storage-transport of energy, the role of advanced materials.
2. Overview of photo sources: photovoltaic solar cells and photocatalysis, fundamentals of the solar energy conversion into electricity or energy of chemical bonds, types of devices, underlying processes in a solar cell; Shockley-Queisser limit, the role of applied material in tuning the band gap, dye-sensitized solar cell, photoelectrochemical cell for water splitting..
3. Materials used for photovoltaic cells (classical semiconductors - Si and others, state-of-the-art materials, organo / inorganic perovskites, quantum dots, hybrid multilayer structures, their advantages / disadvantages.
4. Research in the materials for photovoltaic cells: preparation of the most perspective materials and methods of their characterization, performance estimation..
5. Photocatalysis as a emerging field in renewable energy materials, the main concept of photocatalysis, suitable materials, development of advanced nanostructures, characterization techniques for photocatalysis.
6. Direct electricity storage: batteries and supercapacitors, their structure and types, main principles of electrochemical electricity storage, basic electrochemical processes and roles of advanced materials, electric double layer for charge storage.
7. Batteries with different chemistry, materials for batteries - Li, Na and others, materials for electrodes, electrolytes and others (separators, current collectors, covers, etc.).
8. Super-capacitors and electrochemical capacitors, materials for storage electricity in the double-layer and/or pseudo-faradaic reactions, high surface area material for charge storage, electrolytes.
9. Metal-air batteries, perspectives and challenges in the material research - materials for anode and cathode, electrolyte.
10. Hydrogen cycle in the framework of renewable energy production, hydrogen production, storage and conversion to the electricity, main infrastructure parts, challenges and prospects.
Annotation
The aim of this lecture is to provide an introduction to renewable energy technologies. As part of the overview of renewable energy sources with an emphasis on electricity generation, advanced materials used in these technologies will be presented.
Concepts of materials preparation will be introduced, focusing on their specific properties and role in energy acquisition, conversion and storage.