H2020Индивидуална стипендия2018–2020

CO2SPLITTING · Carbon dioxide splitting into higher-value chemicals with hybrid photocatalyst sheets

„Хоризонт 2020“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“

Период: 2018-09-01 → 2020-08-31
Финансиране от ЕС: 183 455 €
Участници: 1
Схема: MSCA-IF-EF-ST

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Хибридни фотокатализатори се използват за превръщане на въглеродния диоксид във вещества с по-висока стойност, като например формиат, чрез слънчева светлина и вода. Това помага за създаването на устойчиви системи за производство на химикали и горива от парникови газове.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.

Резултати накратко

Carbon dioxide splitting into higher-value chemicals with hybrid photocatalyst sheets

The development of sustainable CO2-to-fuel conversion systems is a central issue in closing the global carbon cycle and producing renewable chemicals and fuels from the greenhouse gas CO2. However, efforts to demonstrate fuel production from CO2 powered by sunlight are currently hampered by the requirements of sacrificial electron donors or external bias, and lack of efficiency, selectivity and scalability. Ultimately, the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) must be coupled with sustainable oxidation chemistry with an abundant electron source such as water for such technologies to satisfy global energy demands. This work provides a novel approach to overcome those barriers and reports the first example of scalable and selective solar-driven CO2RR conjugated with water oxidation. A selective molecular catalyst was integrated on semiconductor light absorbers to form a wireless and monolithic photocatalyst sheet. Taking a phosphonated cobalt(II) bis(terpyridine) catalyst (CotpyP) modified SrTiO3:La,Rh|Au|BiVO4:Mo sheet as an example, the device combines the high selectivity of molecular catalysts for CO2 reduction and the strong water oxidation power of semiconductors. Hence, it provides a solar-to-formate conversion efficiency (STF) of 0.08±0.01% with selectivity for formate of 97±3%, setting a new benchmark in the field of wireless CO2 conversion using water as an electron donor. A benefit of the photocatalyst sheet configuration is that CO2RR and water oxidation occur in close proximity and the device, therefore, overcomes scale-up limitations inherent to (photo)electrochemical cell designs, where pH gradients and IR drop generated between the (photo)anode and (photo)cathode limit performance. Consequently, a comparable STF was observed even if the active area was increased 20 times. This study overcomes the hurdle of current molecularly engineered systems requiring sacrificial reagents in photocatalytic CO2RR constructs, providing the impetus to study other molecular catalysts for solar fuel production via artificial photosynthesis in such architectures. The simplicity of the assembly process for integrating molecular catalysts in the device also allows the exploration of a wide range of catalysts for various photosynthetic reactions beyond CO2 utilisation to produce diverse products in the future.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз

Цел на проекта

Harvesting solar energy to convert carbon dioxide into fuels such as syngas or alcohols is a promising strategy to curtail the growing carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere and overcome the global dependence on fossil fuels. However, carbon dioxide is one of the most stable and chemically inert molecules and the reduction of carbon dioxide can lead to a large variety of products. Hence, the overall efficiency and selectivity of carbon dioxide reduction remains a key scientific challenge. The overall objective of the proposal is to develop novel hybrid photocatalysts-based sheets capable of splitting carbon dioxide into energy-rich chemicals with high solar-to-fuel conversion efficiency and selectivity. To this end, semiconductors with relatively negative conduction bands, such as tantalum nitride, will be modified with various water-tolerant molecular catalysts for selective carbon dioxide reduction, and combined with a water oxidation photocatalyst (bismuth vanadate) to construct sheet systems. Because of the efficient electron transfer through the underlying conductive layer, the obtained sheets are expected to provide the most effective means of achieving efficient and scalable carbon dioxide conversion to produce solar fuels. This project will involve extending the device created as part of the applicant’s current research for water splitting to carbon dioxide splitting. The applicant and the host group possess complementary skills and experiences, which match the necessity for the proposed project. Therefore, they are likely to deliver the desired outcomes in a synergistic manner. The outcomes and results in the present project will strengthen the European advances already made in carbon dioxide conversion and European knowledge. This project approaches the subject from a different scientific angle and focuses on renewable solar fuel generation to access a sustainable carbon-based economy, dovetailing with the overall objective of Horizon 2020 work programme.

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE · CAMBRIDGEКоординаторОбединеното кралство