Operational Analysis of Artificial Photosynthetic Systems

 JohnResearch Research by:

John Stevens
I build computational models to predict the net fuel energy harvest by and light transmission through multiphase wireless photoelectrochemical systems that use optical concentration. With these models, I assess optimal designs to accommodate different solar tracking methodologies, photovoltaic cells, catalysts, deployment locations, optical concentration ratios and cell geometries. This allows me to propose designs to reduce energy costs, primary energy inputs and efficiency losses, while enhancing device lifetime. Additionally, I use computational models and experimental processes to study the effects of heat transfer on photoelectrochemical systems that use liquid and gaseous reactants.

Publications:

  1. Sathre, R.; Scown, C. D.; Morrow, W. R.; Stevens, J. C.; Sharp, I. D.; Ager, J. W. III; Walczak, K. A.; Houle, F. A.; Greenblatt, J. B. “Life-cycle Net Energy Assessment of Large-Scale Hydrogen Production Via Photo-Electrochemical Water Splitting” Energy Environ. Sci. 2014, 7, 3264-3278.
  2. Singh, M. R.; Stevens, J. C.; Weber, A. Z. “Design of Membrane-Encapsulated Wireless Photoelectrochemical Cells for Hydrogen Production” J. Electrochem. Soc. 2014, 161, E3283-E3296.