Invited by the School of Chemistry and Materials Science of Nanjing Normal University and the Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Novel Power Batteries, Professor Wenjun Luo from the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, visited the School of Chemical Science and Engineering on May 18, 2026, for academic exchange. He delivered a lecture entitled “A New Dynamic Surface/Interface Model of Faraday Junction and Its Photoelectrochemical Applications” in Conference Room 224 of Huaxing Building. The session was chaired by Professor Hanjun Sun, and was attended by faculty members and students of the School.
Professor Wenjun Luo is a Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University. He is a recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (Young Scientist Fund A), a senior member of the Chinese Chemical Society, a member of the Committee of Surface Physical Chemistry under the Chinese Chemical Society, and a member of the Photocatalysis Committee of the Chinese Society of Photographic Science. He has long been engaged in photoelectrochemical research. He was the first to propose a new dynamic surface/interface model of the Faraday junction, established a new descriptive theory of electrode potential window for surfaces and interfaces, and extended its applications in areas such as photocatalysis, photoelectrochemical energy storage, and solar cells. To date, he has published over 100 papers in journals including Nat. Commun. (3), Natl. Sci. Rev., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. (4), and Energy Environ. Sci. (4), with over 9,000 citations, and holds seven granted Chinese invention patents. He has led projects including one National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars project, one National Key R&D Program project, one National Key R&D Program project (Key Special Project for International Scientific and Technological Innovation Cooperation between Governments), three National Natural Science Foundation projects, and participated in two 973 Program projects. As a key contributor, he has received three First Prizes of Jiangsu Provincial Science and Technology Award.
In this lecture, Professor Luo focused on the research of his group on the new dynamic surface/interface model of the Faraday junction and its photoelectrochemical applications, explaining the advantages of the Faraday junction. In the first part, he discussed the significance of photoelectrochemical surface/interface research, addressing issues such as the limitation of interfacial charge transfer on the efficiency of photoelectrochemical solar energy conversion, and the difficulty of establishing accurate potential functions for dynamic surfaces/interfaces using conventional band theory. In the second part, he introduced the Faraday junction surface/interface model and new theoretical descriptors, explaining that the surface hydration layer serves as an interfacial charge transport medium, which improves the separation efficiency of photogenerated charge carriers and accelerates oxygen evolution reaction (OER) kinetics. He also highlighted the advantage of the designed electrode potential window descriptor in conveniently describing dynamic surfaces/interfaces. In the third part, he discussed the application of the Faraday junction in photoelectrochemical water
splitting for hydrogen production, noting that adjusting the surface reduction potential window of the semiconductor can significantly enhance photovoltage, and proposed a new principle for constructing heterostructures based on the alignment of electrode potential windows.
Professor Luo’s report was rich in content and logically clear. His innovative design ideas broadened the audience’s horizons, and he engaged in in-depth discussions with the faculty and students present. The lecture concluded with warm applause.