Dr Siva Krishna Karuturi
Areas of expertise
- Nanotechnology 1007
- Materials Engineering 0912
- Functional Materials 091205
- Compound Semiconductors 091203
Biography
Education
PhD, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Master of Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology - Madras, India
Research interests
Atomic Layer Deposition, MOCVD, Thin Film Growth and Characterizations, Nanostructure Fabrications, Solar Energy Conversion
Available student projects
Hydrogen generation by solar water splitting using nitride-based compound semiconductors
Research fields
- Materials Science and Engineering
- Clean Energy
Project details
With increasing concerns over rising global energy demand and environmental sustainability, development of new energy solutions with minimal impact on the environment is critical to the continuation of socio-economic development. The concept of using hydrogen to replace fossil fuels is an exciting one and full of opportunities. The term ‘hydrogen economy’ born out of this concept brings to mind a sustainable energy system for society. One way of producing hydrogen from renewal sources is by the photoelectrochemical (PEC) method in which suitable electrodes immersed in an aqueous solution split water molecules to oxygen and hydrogen with the aid of sunlight.
GaN and InGaN have the desirable properties that are required as the electrodes, such as the correct band alignment with redox potential of H2/H2O and O2/H2O, excellent carrier transport and charge transfer properties, strong optical absorption at wavelengths within the solar spectrum and good corrosion resistance in aqueous solutions. The aims and scope of this project cover the following:
- Study the photoelectrochemical properties of various GaN-based semiconductors and quantum wells
- Engineer the band bending at the semiconductor-electrolyte interface to improve device efficiency
- Investigate the effect of a very thin layer of passivation material
- Understand charge carrier generation, recombination, trapping and transfer processes in a photoelectrochemical cell
Depending of the interests of the student and the length of the course, any combination of the aspects listed above can be chosen to suit the student.
Required background
Physics, Material Science, Engineering
Project suitability
- 3rd year special project
- PhB (1st year)
- PhB (2nd or 3rd year)
- Honours project
- Phd or Masters
- Vacation scholar
2. Solar Hydrogen Generation from Rust using 3-D Nanostructured Photoelectrodes
Research fields
- Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
- Clean Energy
Project details
The quest for abundant, renewable energy is currently one of the world’s greatest technological challenges. One solution to this problem is the conversion of solar energy to storable chemical fuels, such as H2. Hydrogen generated from solar-driven electrolysis of water has the potential to provide clean, sustainable, abundant and transportable energy. Towards realizing this goal, artificial photosynthetic approaches such as photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells are being extensively investigated. A PEC cell requires a semiconductor electrode that fulfills several essential prerequisites: a small semiconductor bandgap for efficiently harvesting a large proportion of the solar spectrum, appropriate band edges for water oxidation and reduction, high conversion efficiency of photogenerated carriers to hydrogen, durability in aqueous environments, and low cost.
Hematite (α-Fe2O3), often referred to as “rust”, is a promising electrode material for photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation from water – it has low cost, good long-term stability and absorbs light efficiently. However, its use is limited by its poor electrical conductivity. In this project, a novel host-guest nanostructure will be developed that exploits the beneficial light-absorption properties of hematite (the guest) but shifts the charge transport function to a nanostructured transparent conductive oxide (TCO) host. The specific objectives of this project are:
• Develop a novel hematite electrode based on a porous 3D nanostructured TCO film as a host for an
extremely thin hematite layer
• Understand the mechanism of charge separation and transport in these photoanodes based on the host-guest nanostructure approach through systematic investigations employing time-resolved absorption spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance measurements.
Depending on the interests of the student and the length of the course, various aspects of the project can be tailored to suit the student.
Project suitability
- 3rd year special project
- Honours project
- Phd or Masters
Publications
- Patra, N, Karuturi, S, Vasa, N et al 2019, 'Influence of Ni, Ti and NiTi alloy nanoparticles on hydrothermally grown ZnO nanowires for photoluminescence enhancement', Journal of Alloys and Compounds, vol. 770, pp. 1119-1129.
- Yew, Y, Karuturi, S, Liu, J et al 2019, 'Exploiting defects in TiO2 inverse opal for enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting', Optics Express, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 761-773.
- Karuturi, S, Yew, Y, Narangari, P et al 2018, 'CdS/TiO2 photoanodes via solution ion transfer method for highly efficient solar hydrogen generation', Nano Futures, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 8pp.
- Karuturi, S, Shen, H, Duong, T et al 2018, 'Perovskite Photovoltaic Integrated CdS/TiO2 Photoanode for Unbiased Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Generation', ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, vol. 10, no. 28, pp. 23766-23773pp.
- Liu, G, Karuturi, S, Chen, H et al 2018, 'Tuning the morphology and structure of disordered hematite photoanodes for improved water oxidation: A physical and chemical synergistic approach', Nano Energy, vol. 53, pp. 745-752pp.
- Shen, H, Duong, T, Peng, J et al 2018, 'Mechanically-stacked perovskite/CIGS tandem solar cells with efficiency of 23.9% and reduced oxygen sensitivity', Energy and Environmental Science, vol. 2, no. 2018, pp. 394-406pp.
- Butson, J, Narangari, P, Karuturi, S et al 2018, 'Photoelectrochemical studies of InGaN/GaN MQW photoanodes', Nanotechnology, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 8pp.
- Wan, Y, Karuturi, S, Samundsett, C et al 2018, 'Tantalum Oxide Electron-Selective Heterocontacts for Silicon Photovoltaics and Photoelectrochemical Water Reduction', ACS Energy Letters, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 125-131pp.
- Narangari, P, Karuturi, S, Lysevych, M et al 2017, 'Improved photoelectrochemical performance of GaN nanopillar photoanodes', Nanotechnology, vol. 28, no. 15, pp. -.
- Shen, H, Jacobs, D, Wu, Y et al 2017, 'Inverted Hysteresis in CH3NH3PbI3 Solar Cells: Role of Stoichiometry and Band Alignment', Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, vol. 8, no. 12, pp. 2672-2680pp.
- Yew, Y, Karuturi, S, Tan, H et al 2017, 'Nanostructured Photoelectrodes via Template-Assisted Fabrication', Semiconductors and Semimetals, vol. 97, pp. 289-313.
- Liu, G, Karuturi, S, Simonov, A et al 2016, 'Robust Sub-Monolayers of Co3O4 Nano-Islands: A Highly Transparent Morphology for Efficient Water Oxidation Catalysis', Advanced Energy Materials, vol. 6, no. 15, pp. -.
- Gupta, N, Veettil, B, Xia, H et al 2015, 'Synthesis of nano-crystalline germanium carbide using radio frequency magnetron sputtering', Thin Solid Films, vol. 592, pp. 162-166.
- Niu, W, Li, X, Karuturi, S et al 2015, 'Applications of atomic layer deposition in solar cells', Nanotechnology, vol. 26, no. 6, pp. 1-13pp.
- Su, L, Karuturi, S, Luo, J et al 2013, 'Photon upconversion in hetero-nanostructured photoanodes for enhanced near-infrared light harvesting', Advanced Materials, vol. 25, no. 11, pp. 1603-1607.
- Karuturi, S, Liu, L, Su, L et al 2013, 'Atomic layer deposition of inverse opals for solar cell applications', 13th International Conference on Quality in Research, QiR 2013, Trans Tech Publications, Yogyakarta Indonesia, pp. 3-7pp.
- Karuturi, S, Luo, J, Cheng, C et al 2012, 'A novel photoanode with three-dimensionally, hierarchically ordered nanobushes for highly efficient photoelectrochemical cells', Advanced Materials, vol. 24, no. 30, pp. 4157-4162.
- Luo, J, Karuturi, S, Liu, L et al 2012, 'Homogeneous Photosensitization of Complex TiO2 Nanostructures for Efficient Solar Energy Conversion', Scientific Reports, vol. 2, no. 451, pp. 1-6.
- Cheng, C, Karuturi, S, Liu, L et al 2012, 'Quantum-Dot-Sensitized TiO2 Inverse Opals for Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Generation', Small, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 37-42.
- Liu, M, Li, X, Karuturi, S et al 2012, 'Atomic layer deposition for nanofabrication and interface engineering', Nanoscale, vol. 4, no. 5, pp. 1522-1528.
- Karuturi, S, Cheng, C, Liu, L et al 2012, 'Inverse opals coupled with nanowires as photoelectrochemical anode', Nano Energy, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 322-327.
- Karuturi, S, Liu, L, Su, L et al 2011, 'Gradient inverse opal photonic crystals via spatially controlled template replication of self-assembled opals', Nanoscale, vol. 3, no. 12, pp. 4951-4954.
- Liu, L, Karuturi, S, Su, L et al 2011, 'Electrochromic photonic crystal displays with versatile color tunability', Electrochemistry Communications, vol. 13, no. 11, pp. 1163-1165.
- Liu, L, Karuturi, S, Su, L et al 2011, 'TiO2 inverse-opal electrode fabricated by atomic layer deposition for dye-sensitized solar cell applications', Energy and Environmental Science, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 209-215.
- Su, L, Ye, J, Karuturi, S et al 2011, 'High index, reactive facet-controlled synthesis of one-dimensional single crystalline rare earth hydroxide nanobelts', CrystEngComm, vol. 13, no. 17, pp. 5367-5373.
