Title: Nanomaterials Engineering for Solar Energy Harvesting and Conversion

Abstract :

Recent advances in nanotechnology and the emergence of novel material systems have spurred the development of new nanomaterials with exceptional optoelectronic properties, aiming to address the demands of future technologies. Most of the emerging and high added-value materials such as 0D, 1D, and 2D structures that demonstrate promising properties are complex, with increasingly reduced dimensions. Special fabrication techniques, as well as advanced multiscale characterization in conjunction with modeling, have emerged to make the processing of this class of materials possible and easily tunable to meet the targeted application requirements. In this talk, examples of nanoengineered materials exhibiting high optical properties that can serve as high-yield nanomaterials for solar energy harvesting will be tackled, with special emphasis on the physics underlying their performance. Applications in the development of next-generation photodetectors and photocatalysts for green hydrogen production will also be discussed.

Biography

Prof. Mustapha Jouiad is a professor at the University of Picardie Jules Verne (France), where he is currently affiliated with the Physics Department. Before joining UPJV, he was a faculty member in the Materials Science program at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, working in close collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He also held research positions at world-renowned institutions such as the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). His research bridges theory and experimentation, focusing on functional materials and multiphysics coupling for energy and environmental applications. A central aim of his work is the predictive modeling of material properties to guide the optimization of processing and design. Currently, Prof. Jouiad’s research centers on the development, modification, and characterization of nanostructures, two-dimensional materials, oxide perovskites, and functionalized nanoparticles for use in photovoltaics, hydrogen production, and sensing technologies.