ULTRACHEM - Research project

 

The ULTRACHEM project aims at completing the current state of the art of ultrafast laser-matter interactions by not only controlling the surface topography (nanostructuring), but by studying the surface oxidation mechanisms induced by ultrafast laser interaction on a metallic surface or the local stoichiometry modifications in the case of the use of alloys, with or without topographic modifications. The surface texturing by ultrafast laser under controlled environment (vacuum chamber) will allow to identify the mechanisms induced by the laser-material interaction and the chemical mechanisms during and after the irradiation. The understanding of the oxidation mechanisms will be supported by modelling work using a coupled TTM-MD approach (two-temperature model coupled to molecular dynamics) and in situ XPS measurements to reproduce thermal cycles in a furnace. Spatial, temporal and polarization control of the ultrashort laser pulses will be implemented to control the laser-matter interaction at the time scale of the laser energy relaxation to modify the thermodynamic dynamics and to control the chemical modifications during the irradiation and the high-speed cooling of the sample. The project also proposes to explore the functional properties and applications to catalysis and CO2 reduction of these chemically controlled surfaces. Copper and silver catalysts will be laser textured to obtain a controlled nanostructure and surface chemistry. They will then be used in an electro-catalysis system where CO2 will be reduced to various products. This work will also rely on an in-situ heat treatment device with a photoelectron spectrometer and a reactive gas pressure-controlled mass spectrometer to couple reaction monitoring with surface chemical analysis.