CINE Webinars 2021: 'Solar-driven Synthesis of ...', by Dr. Erwin Reisner, University of Cambridge

CINE Webinars 2021: "Solar-driven Synthesis of Fuels and Chemicals from Biomass and Plastic Waste", by Dr. Erwin Reisner, University of Cambridge

Artificial photosynthesis is a sustainable process that utilises solar energy to drive endothermic multi-electron chemical reactions for the production of fuels. This process often relies on expensive materials and device architectures as well as the dependence on the thermodynamically and kinetically water oxidation Reaction, which challenges the development of ultimately economical devices. This presentation will give an overview about our recent progress in developing semiconductor systems to perform efficient full redox cycle solar catalysis using inexpensive components. Our approach bypasses the need for water oxidation as it employs the sustainable oxidation of waste biomass and plastics. This process is known as photoreforming and co-produces clean H2 fuel and organic chemicals. Thus, the bottleneck in classical artificial photosynthesis can be avoided while mitigating waste streams and expanding the chemical reaction space to improve the economics of this process. The principles and design considerations for the solar-driven photo-reforming process will be compared to traditional artificial photosynthetic systems and benefits and disadvantages discussed.