The central theme of the Ardo Group's research program is to understand and control reaction mechanisms at interfaces, with the goal of maximizing energy-conversion efficiency for realistic applications, including solar fuels devices, photovoltaics, solar seawater desalination, redox flow batteries, and fuel cells.
Watch a short video from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation explaining The Ardo Group's solar desalination concept and Shane's Distinctive Voices Lecture (53 minutes) from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine titled "Development of a plastic water bottle for sunlight-driven desalination."
Asymmetry is the key characteristic responsible for light-induced charge separation and current rectification; it is present in semiconductors, biological membranes, and molecular donor–chromophore–acceptor complexes. Members of the Ardo Group design and control asymmetry through modeling, synthesis, and engineering of molecule–material structures. The electrochemical, photoelectrochemical, and photophysical properties of hard and soft material interfaces are manipulated via molecular functionalization and electrostatic engineering. New materials and molecules are being investigated, including photoacidic materials, multiple-electron-transfer oxidation catalysts, infrared-absorbing dyes, chemically modified surfaces, and ion-conducting metal–organic frameworks. The results from each study are pertinent to fundamental electrochemistry and charge-transfer, energy-transfer, and ion-transfer phenomena.
The Ardo Group is well-suited for students and postdoctoral scholars with various backgrounds and expertise, spanning the disciplines of chemistry, materials science, chemical engineering, physics, electrical engineering, and biology.
6/16/2017: Anni, Mike, and Baldwin are each awarded a Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Fellowship. Congratulations, Anni, Mike, and Baldwin!
6/13/2017: Dr. Jingyuan Liu joins Team Ardo. Welcome, Jingyuan!
6/9/2017: Greg receives the prestigious Michael Gebel Award at the annual Chemistry Department Year-End Reception, an award given to an undergraduate student who is doing an exemplary job in undergraduate research on environmentally related problems. Congratulations, Greg!
6/3/2017: Greg is awarded a scholarship from Tau Beta Pi - The Engineering Honor Society. Congratulations, Greg!
6/1/2017: Eric successfully passes his oral exam and is now in the Ph.D. program in the Department of ChEMS. Congratulations, Eric!
5/20/2017: Greg presents a nice talk on his research at the 2017 UCI Undergraduate Research Symposium. Congratulations, Greg!
5/17/2017: Bill successfully passes his oral exam and is now a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of ChEMS. Congratulations, Bill!
5/12/2017: Prof. Mohammad Qureshi is promoted to Full Professor at his university in India. Congratulations, Qureshi!
5/8/2017: Dr. Larry Renna joins Team Ardo. Welcome, Larry!
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