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CANCELLED: Chemical Society Seminar: Katherine Willets - Plasmon-driven photoelectrochemistry: hot electrons, hot holes, and hot metal
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Abstract:
Plasmonic nanostructures have long been appreciated for their ability to harvest light and transform it into other forms, including thermal energy and chemical energy (through the production of high energy charge carriers, e.g. hot electrons and hot holes). Both hot charge carriers and elevated temperatures at nanoparticle surfaces can increase the efficiency of light-driven electrochemical reactions, yet untangling the relative contributions of these two effects is experimentally challenging. This talk will describe our work to isolate local heating effects from hot carrier effects as well as provide quantitative values for hot carrier energies using scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) on gold nanoparticles at semiconductor interfaces. We generate real temperature values as well as effective hot carrier temperatures, allowing us to understand how plasmon excitation promotes reactions on plasmon substrates.
Bio:
Katherine (Kallie) Willets is the Robert L. Smith Early Career Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Temple University. She received a B.A. in Chemistry from Dartmouth College in 1999, performing undergraduate research in the labs of both Charles L. Braun and Jane E.G. Lipson. After graduation, she moved to Stanford University to pursue her Ph.D. in the lab of W.E. Moerner, receiving her degree in Physical Chemistry in 2005. From 2005-2007, she conducted postdoctoral research with Richard Van Duyne at Northwestern University before beginning her independent faculty career at the University of Texas at Austin in 2007. In 2015, she moved to Temple University in Philadelphia, where she runs a research lab focusing on understanding heterogeneity at nanoscale interfaces. She has been recognized with an Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Award and a Department of Energy Early Career Award and served as a member of the Defense Science Study Group. In addition to her research efforts, Willets has received multiple teaching awards and currently runs several programs aimed at strengthening the climate within Chemistry to promote a more inclusive, welcoming and equitable environment.