Design Transformative Energy Materials Interfaces for Solar Fuels

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The usage and depletion of fossil fuels is deeply linked with other human security problems, such as food, water, and environmental degradation. Solar energy is the largest sustainable source available, and one of the few viable options such as nuclear energy. By developing solar fuels, a bio-inspired approach, solar energy can be directly stored as chemical energy in fuels using artificial photosynthesis, which serves a dual function of energy conversion and storage. Solar fuels can play a vital role for mobile energy requirement, in all aspects from solar energy conversion, storage, transport, and distribution. This is the promising sustainable energy source for powering our future, as they can provide sustainable energy, sustainable fertilizers for food production, and mitigate global warming. However, to design energy materials for CO2 reduction and ammonia synthesis with high efficiency, selectivity, and stability is yet to be achieved. The proposed research will design highly effective, selective, and stable catalysts. The short term goal of program is to design transformative catalysts for CO2 reduction and ammonia synthesis from N2 via a deep understanding of the role of defects and interfaces in selective and effective photo/electro-catalytic processes, and using catalysts for artificial photosynthesis at lab scale. The long term goal is to achieve a system with higher efficiency than natural photosynthesis but retain high selectivity as natural photosynthesis at large scale. Solar fuels can benefit Canadian by creating clean and sustainable energy through materials innovation. This research program will have a broad impact for both academia and industry. In academia, operando multimodal characterization coupled with artificial intelligence will clarify the mechanism and discover new materials design concepts, which can advance knowledge in natural science and engineering fields and be used to develop transformative energy materials for solar fuels. In industry, the results from this program will offer solutions to the oil, automotive, steel industries for reducing CO2 gas emissions and store the electricity from nuclear power plant. The product from CO2 reduction can be used as precursors to make other chemical products in chemical industry. Liquid solar fuels can be used as the propulsion power sources for vehicles, aircrafts and in the microgravity environment of space. Ammonia synthesis under mild conditions will provide solutions to sustainable agriculture by providing sustainable fertilizer.