Powerful Lifetime-Resolved Photoluminescence Coupled with a Steady-State Spectrometer for the Development of Efficient Solar-to-Fuels Photocatalysts

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The global energy crisis and environmental problems drive the intense search for a clean and renewable energy source to replace the fossil fuels. The production of clean and renewable energy from inexhaustible solar energy through photocatalytic water splitting and CO2 reduction is a «dream technology» to address the worldwide energy shortage, environmental contamination, and the greenhouse effect. Our current and future research are focused on the design of new efficient sunlight-driven nanostructured photocatalysts for the water splitting to produce hydrogen and the photo-reduction of CO2 into hydrocarbons such as methane and methanol. These products are considered as next-generation energy carriers and sources. Towards such development of efficient sunlight-driven photocatalysts, it is very important to study their efficacy in terms of their ability to perform the redox reactions, which is largely empowered by the increased lifetime of excited charge carriers in the photocatalysts.*******In this context, this proposal aims at acquiring a lifetime-resolved photoluminescence combined with a steady-state spectrometer to study the dynamics of charge carriers, thereby to develop efficient photocatalysts for solar converted fuels and as well as for environmental remediation. It is important to note that we are the first research group at Laval University to study the development of sunlight-driven photocatalysts for solar-converted fuels using sunlight. At present, no such requested equipment system is currently available at Laval University. Thus, the requested equipment is essential for the successful execution and completion of our research projects on the development of efficient photocatalyst******