With this CAREER award, the Chemical Structure, Dynamics and Mechanisms (CSDM-A) Program of the Division of Chemistry is funding Professor Jahan Dawlaty of the University of Southern California and his post-doctoral, graduate and undergraduate student colleagues to conduct experimental studies aimed at understanding how the motions of protons and electrons are coupled in photocatalytic reactions at interfaces. The coupling of proton and electron motion in these reactions is believed to help to make these reactions take place more readily. Photocatalytic reactions are important in realms as diverse as biology (photosynthesis) and chemical engineering (production of solar fuels). Post-doctoral, graduate and undergraduate students working on this project will receive training in state-of-the-art laser and optical science, spectroscopy, and the design of complex experiments, while working on important chemical problems with significant real-world impact. The young researchers working on this project will receive excellent technical training in laser science and modern spectroscopic methods which will prepare them for the modern scientific workforce. Under the educational aims of this CAREER award, Prof. Dawlaty will build simple physical models to illustrate important physical chemical principles.
Prof. Jahan Dawlaty and his research group will use ultrafast laser techniques to study the interfacial chemistry of proton-coupled electron transfer. He will use spectroscopic techniques to measure the synchronous motion of electrons and protons during photocatalytic events. In the experiments supported with this award Dawlaty's group will study: (1) amorphous manganese oxide surfaces; (2) hematite surfaces and (3) and silicon functionalized surfaces. The reactions will be probed using a variety of surface-sensitive spectroscopic methods, including two-dimensional electronic-vibrational correlation spectroscopy. From the proposed work, a new understanding of surface redox reactions, where protons are free from the Born-Oppenheimer approximation is expected to emerge. In the longer term, the work is aimed at guiding the design of interfaces with light-controllable proton activity is a new concept that has potential to unravel the mechanistic details of multi-electron and multi-proton surface redox reactions.
