Energy generation, conversion and storage

Professor B. Layla Mehdi, Scientific Theme Lead

Our goal is to investigate the fundamental ultrafast mechanisms that can lead to the implementation of new sustainable energy technologies and climate friendly systems – this is a major challenge facing the world today.

RUEDI is specifically designed to measure the key energy processes of photon/energy absorption, bond making/breaking, interdiffusion across heterophase interfaces and materials properties/degradation, all of which occur on the femtosecond and nanoscale time and length scales.

During the preliminary consultation period, a town hall event was held in 2022, where the uniqueness of RUEDI was described, and a representative set of energy challenges offered, that illustrated the types of experiments that will be performed during the initial testing and operations phase of the RUEDI system. As the community of users grows and the instrument comes on-line, the specific capabilities of the RUEDI facility and its associated experimental ecosystem will provide unparalleled insights.

Preliminary experiments include:

• Photocatalysis and induced electrochemistry
• Defect kinetics in hybrid perovskite solar cells
• Ion solvation/de-solvation kinetics for energy storage
• The kinetics of glass structures and potential applications.

The report from the event can be accessed here and was used to inform the conceptual design review.