ChEMS Seminar: Discovery and Understanding of Solar Fuels Materials via High Throughput Experimentation

John M. Gregoire

Project Leader, Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California

The High Throughput Experimentation (HTE) project of the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP) performs accelerated discovery of new earth-abundant photoabsorbers and electrocatalysts for incorporation in devices that efficiently convert solar energy, water and carbon dioxide into fuel. JCAP-HTE builds high-throughput pipelines for the synthesis, screening and characterization of photoelectrochemical materials. In addition to a summary of these pipelines, I will also describe the high throughput discovery of new water splitting catalysts and light absorbers in surprising composition spaces. The discoveries provide new pathways toward the realization of a solar fuels generator constructed from Earth-abundant materials, and by combining high throughput screening, materials characterization and materials theory, composition-structure-property relationships are revealed. Additionally, the follow-on verification and device implementation of a new quaternary metal oxide catalyst comprise unprecedented rapid technology development, a hallmark of the multi-faceted JCAP research effort.

 

Bio:  John Gregoire is the project leader for the High-Throughput Experimentation Project in the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, the DOE solar fuels Energy Innovation Hub. He earned a B.A. in physics and mathematics from Concordia College and a Ph.D. in physics from Cornell University, while working in the Energy Materials Center, a DOE-EFRC. After completing his doctoral work, Gregoire continued postdoctoral work at Cornell in the van Dover group, followed by additional postdoctoral work with Dr. Joost Vlassak at Harvard University. Gregoire’s research has spanned many aspects of high throughput and combinatorial methods, including materials synthesis, screening, characterization, data processing and interfacing with first principles calculations.