Nanomagnetism & Oxides Laboratory
Optimized transition metal-oxide photo-anodes for renewable energy harvesting 
People: H. Magnan, D. Stanescu, A. Barbier (Permanent staff) 
Alumni: M. Rioult (PhD) 
Collaborations: UB-ICB Dijon, Synchrotron SOLEIL 
Fundings: 
• PHOTO-POT (ANR, 2015 – 2018): Water photo-electrolysis assisted by an internal potential, Coll. UB-ICB and Synchrotron SOLEIL 
• PAPI (DSM-ENERGIE, 2013 – 2015): Water photo-electrolysis assisted by an internal potential 
• Rutile-Hematite heterojunction for photo-electrolysis (OXYMORE – IDF, 2012 – 2015) Coll. Synchrotron SOLEIL 
• RUMATO (NANOSACLAY, 2012 – 2015), Coll. Synchrotron SOLEIL 
• HEMAPHOTO (DSM-ENERGIE, 2010 – 2013): Study of doping and of α-Fe2O3 films nanostructuring on the water photoelectrolysis 
 
The transformation of solar energy into chemical energy stored in the form of hydrogen, through photoelectrochemical water splitting is a promising method with the important advantage of being environment friendly and free from carbon dioxide emission. Several metal oxide semiconductors are able to split water into hydrogen and oxygen but the efficiencies are still low. Several strategies were proposed to improve the photoelectrochemical properties like doping or nanostucturing, but the origin of the improvement is not well understood yet. In the laboratory, we study the photo-electrochemical activity of thin epitaxial oxide films in order to understand the influence of different parameters on the photoanode efficiency. More