Light-Activated Group 5 Metal Oxide Nanocomposites as Photocatalysts for Renewable Chemical Feedstocks

鉴于加拿大政府目前的重点是到2050年实现净零排放，从化石燃料驱动的方法的意识形态转变是重中之重。作为一种不可再生能源，石化产品对无数的环境问题负有主要责任，因此需要开发可持续的方法，以最大限度地减少许多工业相关途径的“化学碳足迹”。光催化是促进全球清洁能源、提高化学转化成本和能源效率以及克服许多当前全球生态挑战的重要战略。这些优点已经被认识了几十年，并被广泛应用于太阳能电池的设计和替代燃料的研究。尽管光催化技术的优点远大于缺点，但它往往受到高能量（紫外线）光和短氧化还原寿命的限制，而这是催化成功的关键。到目前为止，我实验室的大部分研究都是为了减轻这些缺点。我们的贡献主要集中在实现欠发达的光活化氧化铌钙钛矿半导体。此外，正在进行的研究重点是利用纳米颗粒掺杂剂来吸收可见光，模拟太阳能，从而延长这些材料的光响应。目前的建议将继续建立在这些知识的基础上，并旨在通过研究1)非均相纳米催化剂协同作用，2)纳米颗粒形态，以及3)光催化剂孔隙率，以分层方式提高钙钛矿纳米复合材料的光催化效率。该设计的每个支柱都有助于通过改善光响应和反应表面积来提高光催化效率的中心目标。我们在这一领域的贡献将拓宽我们在光驱动化学原料生产方面的知识，这对于实现可持续的工业过程至关重要。理想情况下，我们的发现将导致优化的光催化材料，可扩展到工业应用。参与这项工作的学生将接触到多种多样的分析和沟通技巧，可转移到未来的科学职业方向。

Given the current focus of the Government of Canada to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, an ideological shift from fossil fuel-driven methods is of high priority. As a non-renewable energy source, petrochemicals are primarily responsible for countless environmental issues that warrant the development of sustainable approaches to minimize the "chemical carbon footprint" of many industrially relevant pathways. Photocatalysis is an important strategy for facilitating clean global energy, improving the cost and energy efficacy of chemical transformations, and overcoming many of the globe's current ecological challenges. These advantages have been recognized for several decades, having been widely exploited in solar cell design and alternative fuel research. Though the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks, photocatalysis technologies are often limited by the requirement of high energy (ultraviolet) light and short redox lifetimes - pivotal for catalytic success. To date, much of the research in my lab has been aligned to mitigate several of these shortcomings. Our contributions have largely focused on implementing underdeveloped light-activated niobium oxide perovskite semiconductors. Additionally, ongoing research is focused on extending light response of these materials using nanoparticle dopants to incorporate the participation of visible light, mimicking solar energy. The current proposal will continue to build on this knowledge and aims to improve the photocatalytic efficacy of perovskite nanocomposites in hierarchical fashion through study of 1) heterogenous nanocatalyst synergy, 2) nanoparticle morphology, and 3) photocatalyst porosity. Each pillar of this design contributes to the central objective of enhancing photocatalytic efficacy through improving light response and surface area for reaction. Our contributions to this field will broaden our knowledge of light-driven chemical feedstock production - crucial for realizing sustainable industrial processes. Ideally, our findings will result in optimized photocatalytic materials that are scalable for industrial applications. Students involved in this work will be exposed to a multitude of versatile analytical and communication skills, transferable to future scientific career directions.