Lars Österlund

Österlund's group synthesizes and studies catalytic materials, solar light responsive materials, such as photocatalytic, chromogenic materials, self-cleaning surfaces, and solid state sensors using reactive and inert gas deposition and magnetron sputtering and operando spectroscopy methods as primary analytical tools. He is the co-founder of the Swedish Society of Vibrational Spectroscopy, board member of Uppsala Center for Photon Sciences, International Science Program, and TCMnet.

Lars Österlund is Professor and co-chair of Div. Solid State Physics at Uppsala University, and responsible for third cycle education of the Engineering Physics Program. He is the co-founder of the Swedish Society of Vibrational Spectroscopy and was its president from 2010-2017. He is board member of the Uppsala Center for Photon Sciences, the International Science Program (ISP), and board member of the Intl. Transparent Conducting Materials network (TCMnet). Prof. Österlund has a PhD from 1997 from Chalmers under supervision of Bengt Kasemo, were his thesis work involved fundamental surface science studies of photo-induced surface reactions on single crystal surfaces employing a broad range of surface spectroscopic methods and reaction kinetic modelling. He did his postdoc at Aarhus University in Denmark in Flemming Besenbacher’s group conducting fundamental studies of adsorbate interactions with metal and oxide surfaces using STM, and developed a high-pressure STM capable of atomic-scale imaging from UHV to 1 bar. A general theme of his current research is development of catalytic materials, including solar light responsive materials, such as photocatalytic, electrochromic, photochromic and thermochromic materials, self-cleaning surface coatings, and solid state gas sensors. Recent internationally recognized research include the invention of spectral selective multilayer photocatalytic and infrared and solar absorbing coatings with enhanced reactivity, and a new method to modify acid-base properties of oxide surfaces based on photo-adsorption of electrophilic molecules from gas-phase. Employing advanced gas deposition methods Österlund’s group has developed methods to fabricate nanoporous thin films of pure and mixed metals and oxide nanoparticles, as well as metal – organic ligand assemblies for electronic sensors for exhaled breath analysis. He is co-founder of the companies Nanoform Science AB and Molecular Fingerprint AB. Prof. Österlund has published 160+ peer-reviewed scientific articles and holds 6 international patents.

A general theme of his current research is development of catalytic materials, including solar light responsive materials, such as photocatalytic, electrochromic, photochromic and thermochromic materials, self-cleaning surface coatings, and solid state gas sensors. Recent internationally recognized research include the invention of spectral selective multilayer photocatalytic and infrared and solar absorbing coatings with enhanced reactivity, and a new method to modify acid-base properties of oxide surfaces based on photo-adsorption of electrophilic molecules from gas-phase, yielding e.g. superior olephobic and self-cleaning properties. Employing advanced gas deposition methods Österlund’s group has developed methods to fabricate nanoporous thin films of pure and mixed metals and oxide nanoparticles, as well as metal – organic ligand assemblies for electronic sensors for exhaled breath analysis.