Harnessing light to drive photoreactions for solar fuels production
Photocatalysis
Harnessing light to drive photoreactions for solar fuels production.
We investigate catalytic and photophysical properties of organic and hybrid photocatalysts, which drive CO₂ conversion into value-added chemicals and H₂ evolution from water. We also test catalyst stability, reaction selectivity, and investigate the effect of various reaction conditions on the reaction yield.
Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide (CO₂), are the key contributors to global warming and pollution. Hence, reducing carbon footprint has emerged as an urgent global objective. The international community has set a goal to reduce CO₂ emissions to below 20 Gt per year by 2050. By harnessing the power of sunlight, photocatalysis offers an environmentally friendly and sustainable approach to the conversion of environmental pollutants into value-added chemicals.
Photocatalytic CO₂ conversion harnesses solar energy as the reaction driving force, operating in mild reaction conditions in green organic solvents or water. The versatility of the developed photocatalysts enables sustainable and eco-friendly generation of various C1 and C2 carbon-based products from CO₂ gas. Nonetheless, the CO₂ conversion efficiency remains low, and the product generation rate is slow. Photocatalyst fabrication often relies on expensive chemicals obtained via complicated synthetic routes and results in materials with limited stability under the photoreaction conditions. Additionally, most photocatalysts operate only in the UV and few in the visible wavelength spectral region.
Our expertise:
Therefore, we investigate catalytic and optical properties of organic and hybrid photocatalysts for CO₂ reduction and H₂ evolution (via water splitting). While we do not perform any synthesis ourselves, a wide range of collaborators provide us with various photocatalysts. Those include organic semiconductors (polymers and small molecules), metal-organic frameworks, covalent-organic frameworks, transition metal dichalcogenides, and their modifications with metal cocatalysts. We aim to understand the photophysics behind charge generation and transfer in these materials, help material scientists improve the utilisation of the visible light spectrum in photocatalytic conversions, and also identify constraints of these processes. We also test stability, selectivity of the photocatalysts towards particular reaction products, and investigate the effect of various illumination conditions on the yield of photoreactions.
Graphical abstract of our paper in Sustainable Energy & Fuels, 2024
