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The production of hydrogen fuels, via water splitting, is of practical relevance for meeting global energy needs and mitigating the environmental consequences of fossil-fuel-based transportation. Water photoelectrolysis has been proposed as a viable approach for generating hydrogen, provided that stable and inexpensive photocatalysts with conversion efficiencies over 10% can be discovered, synthesized at scale, and successfully deployed (Pinaud et al., Energy Environ. Sci., 2013, 6, 1983). While a number of first-principles studies have focused on the data-driven discovery of photocatalysts, in the absence of systematic experimental validation, the success rate of these predictions may be limited. We address this problem by developing a screening procedure with co-validation between experiment and theory to expedite the synthesis, characterization, and testing of the computationally predicted, most desirable materials. Starting with 70,150 compounds in the Materials Project database, the proposed protocol yielded 71 candidate photocatalysts, 11 of which were synthesized as single-phase materials. Experiments confirmed hydrogen generation and favorable band alignment for 6 of the 11 compounds, with the most promising ones belonging to the families of alkali and alkaline-earth indates and orthoplumbates. This study shows the accuracy of a nonempirical, Hubbard-corrected density-functional theory method to predict band gaps and band offsets at a fraction of the computational cost of hybrid functionals, and outlines an effective strategy to identify photocatalysts for solar hydrogen generation.

Practicum courses in theatre arts, which function as laboratories where students can practice theatre and receive academic credit for their efforts, greatly benefit students. Because the main goal of such practicums is cooperative achievement of the best production possible and since every step of a production involves a new problem or decision, the practicum course appears to provide an ideal model for life training as well as for artistic training. An experiential model created by Kolb, Chickering, and others tries to capture both the cognitive and the socioemotional factors that go into knowledge acquisition and application. The practicum theatre activities support this model by focusing on having experiences or taking actions, observing and reflecting on these experiences in order to generalize from them, and re-using the generalizations to solve new or similar problems. The direct experience that theatre practicums provide, therefore, assures strong student motivation because it teaches socialization skills and creative problem solving by offering students the experience of producing art and of plying their craft before an audience. (EL)