What can the Fermi level position tell us about how hematite photoanodes drive water oxidation? In our latest JACS paper, we use operando optical spectroscopy to measure quasi-Fermi level splitting and correlate this with the photovoltage generated across the system. pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

We've moved! After nine fantastic years at Imperial College London's Molecular Sciences Research Hub , we've headed to the University of Oxford. A big thanks to everyone involved for making the process as smooth as possible. @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social @ox.ac.uk @oxfordchemistry.bsky.social

Have a read of Caiwu's Nature Materials paper on model water oxidation catalyst iridium oxide! To optimise its performance we used optical and X-ray methods to understand the role of oxidation states at solid-liquid interfaces. @caiwu-liang.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Key role of oxidizing species driving water oxidation revealed by time-resolved optical and X-ray spectroscopies - Nature Materials

Iridium oxide is a state-of-the-art catalyst for green hydrogen production, but the identity of species present under operating conditions remains debated. Here, using multiple operando spectroscopy a...

nature.com

How do surface holes drive water oxidation on metal oxides? Our latest JACS paper explains by observing a clear mechanistic transition from population-controlled rate law kinetics at low light intensity to potential-driven Butler-Volmer behavior at high irradiance. pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Observation of Transition from Rate Law to Butler–Volmer Controlled Water Oxidation Kinetics on Hematite Photoanodes

Despite its central role in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting, the mechanistic pathway of water oxidation on metal oxides remains unresolved, with population-based and Butler–Volmer (BV) models offering distinct views on how surface valence band holes drive the reaction. Here, we bring together these two perspectives by combining operando photoinduced absorption (PIA) spectroscopy with photocurrent analyses on α-Fe2O3 (hematite) photoanodes as a function of light intensity. We find a crossover from population-controlled, rate law water oxidation at low hole densities to a BV-like, potential driven regime at high densities, triggered by band edge unpinning once surface M–OH species are fully oxidized, and excess holes accumulate without compensation. This mechanistic transition unifies competing models of interfacial charge transfer and reveals design principles for optimizing water oxidation in metal oxide photoelectrodes.

pubs.acs.org

Lei Tian's paper on photoexcited small polaron-hopping has been approved for publication in Chemical Science! Check out the advance article below! pubs.rsc.org/vi/content/a...

Optical spectroscopic determination of photoexcited small-polaron hopping in transition metal oxide photocatalysts

Ultrafast small-polaron formation profoundly shapes the electronic and catalytic behaviour of transition metal oxides (TMOs). Despite its significance, spectroscopic investigations of photoexcited pol...

pubs.rsc.org

Highlights from our group Christmas party! 🎄✨ Had a blast at our group holiday party last week. It’s always good to recharge and enjoy some festive cheer together. Ready to take on the new year! Happy Holidays everyone! 🥂

Check out this review on Spectroelectochemistry (SEC) Techniques by past and present Durrantites Ben Moss, @caiwu-liang.bsky.social and Reshma Rao together with @ifanstephens.bsky.social! SEC is invaluable for our group's (photo)catalysis research & this summarises what we've learnt so far!

Nature Reviews Methods Primers@natrevmethodsprimers.nature.com · 9mo ago

The #PrimeView highlights the spectral results obtained from SEC, such as cyclic voltammetry SEC, square-wave voltammetry SEC, and potential decay SEC. 💡📑 Check it out here: www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Great to meet so many students at the Graduate Open Day at the Oxford Chemical Research Laboratory last week (Oct 23)😃! We had a wonderful time sharing our research and introducing our group's work. Our group is excited to be moving to Oxford soon, and we can't wait to join this vibrant community!

We realise it's been quiet here but we'll try and catch up with sharing recent papers and big group news. For now, we're in peak district for this year's BANDGAP group conference. Stay tuned!

Three days on bluesky and happy to have found a lot of familiar faces already. Let's see if we can make more people move over :)

Hello Bluesky, we heard it's nicer on this side of the internet so we came here to share what we're up to. Our research is focused on #solarfuels, #solarenergy, #spectroscopy, #electrochemistry, and #photovoltaics. Looking forward to connecting with scientists and science enthusiasts here!