Chemical and structural modification of porous silicon for energy storage and conversion

Abstract

This thesis describes the fabrication and modification of porous silicon and titania structures for the purposes of energy storage and conversion. The first chapter provides the reader with background information on porous silicon, batteries, and photocatalysis. The second chapter describes porous silicon fabrication methods and the equipment used in these studies. The third and fourth chapters are journal articles which describe the results of efforts to produce a porous silicon electrode for lithium ion batteries. The fifth chapter is a journal article detailing the fabrication of a thin, free-standing porous silicon film which can be activated for possible photovoltaic and microreactor applications. The last chapter describes the formation of novel silver/silver oxide seed structures for titania photocatalyst nanostructures to be prepared for deposition on a porous silicon support interface.