Durrant Group

By identifying band-edge unpinning as the trigger for this crossover , we’ve reconciled two previously competing models into a unified framework for photoelectrochemical solar fuel production. Huge thanks to our collaborators at EPFL, LANL, MPI-CEC, and CNR-IOM for making this breakthrough possible!

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.

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/...

Optical spectroscopic observation of these polarons (local distortions caused by coupling of charge carriers to lattice vibrations) in inorganic semiconductors is a big step towards better understanding how we can improve solar energy conversion efficiencies 🌞.

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...

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...

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!

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!

Screenshot of the twitter profile of the durrant group with 3021 followers and the screenshot of the new BSKY account with 100 new followers in the last 3 days.

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 :)

We're loving this! Already saw on your feed. Thanks youuu

Has anyone made follower lists of other scientists working in the field yet? Give us a shout to see who else is here!

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!

About time! Let's goooo