Lars Österlund

Lars Österlund group studies fundamental and applied aspects of surface reactions on solid surfaces and photo-induced reactions on semiconducting materials with applications in indoor air cleaning, self-cleaning, and water cleaning. He is co-founder of the Swedish Society of Vibrational Spectroscopy; CEO of the spin-off company Molecular Fingerprint; board member of the Uppsala Center for Photon Sciences,; the Intl. TCMnet, and is vice-chairman of the International Science Program.

Lars Österlund is Professor in solid state physics with specialization in environmental science and technology at Uppsala University. He is the co-founder of the Swedish Society of Vibrational Spectroscopy and was its president from 2010-2017. He is CEO of the spin-off company Molecular Fingerprint AB developing micro-structured diamond waveguide sensors. He is board member of the Uppsala Center for Photon Sciences, the Intl. TCMnet, and is vice-chairman of the International Science Program, ISP. His group studies fundamental and applied aspects of surface reactions on solid surfaces and photo-induced reactions on semiconducting materials with applications in indoor air cleaning, self-cleaning, and water cleaning.

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.