Title: Metal Oxides for Energy Applications
Abstract: One of the most pressing global concerns is that of energy resources. Finding a route to economically viable, renewable and clean forms of energy remains a significant challenge. A promising route is via solar water splitting, although developing a material that absorbs strongly throughout the solar spectrum, along with low photo-corrosion and good scalability is technologically demanding. Metal oxides typically satisfy these criteria, and this talk will focus on two main areas: (i) advanced materials design, in this case involving the use of structurally distorted post-transition metal oxides and (ii) use of state-of-the-art characterisation techniques, such x-ray photoelectron spectroscopies (XPS/HAXPES/XAS/XES). Future developments will be discussed including ambient-pressure photoelectron spectroscopy (APPES) as a tool to investigate materials in-situ and in-operando.