Solar-to-electrical energy conversion is important both from an environmental and a national-security perspective.  However, current technologies are not able to compete with traditional energy sources such as gas and oil; high efficiency solar-to-electrical energy conversion technologies are too expensive and low-cost solar-to-electrical energy conversion technologies are not efficient enough.            The current state-of-the art technologies set the bar for nascent technologies to be quite efficient; it is becoming harder to compete on price alone.  Iron pyrite is a promising component of solar-to electrical energy conversion solutions due to its physical properties and the abundance of its component element, but iron pyrite has never demonstrated high-efficiency solar-to-electricity conversion.  Both deleterious bulk and surface chemistry has been implicated in ultimately limiting energy-conversion efficiency and neither is understood well enough that they can be mitigated.            The electrical and electronic properties of iron pyrite have been investigated as a function of surface chemistry.  Chemically modified pyrite surfaces are being characterized using standard analytical techniques, including infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.  The connection between surface chemistry and electrical and electronic properties of the resulting interfaces are being and will be evaluated using several experimental techniques including electrochemistry, impedance spectroscopy, and relative work-function measurements.  Surface chemistry and its effects on energetics and energy conversion will be explored for both natural and synthetic iron pyrite.

Chemistry and energetics of iron pyrite (FeS<sub>2</sub>) surfaces

246th National Meeting (2013)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.

Chemistry and energetics of iron pyrite (FeS2) surfaces

Chemistry and energetics of iron pyrite (FeS₂) surfaces