项目拟利用云南丰富的兼有模板和敏化双重功能的光敏天然提取物如苝醌、天然植物色素等合成兼具半导体纳米晶和气凝胶特性的金属硫化物气凝胶、兼具普通（气）凝胶无序介孔和晶态MOF规则微孔优点的金属-有机（气）凝胶。将探索合成这些气凝胶的新方法，系统研究并有效利用所制气凝胶光催化剂在形貌、结构、光催化产氢活性上造成的差异及规律，从而调控其光催化产氢活性。这是将生物模板技术从常规的介孔金属氧化物合成跨越到硫化物气凝胶、金属-有机（气）凝胶及其复合材料的合成，并将这些新型气凝胶应用拓展到可见光催化产氢研究中。这些新型气凝胶将具有不同于传统固体光催化剂的结构和性质，为我们从新的角度认知光催化分解水的产氢机理，并将其作为指导新型高效光催化产氢体系设计的基础提供了可能，相信会有更多研究开发空间。预期研究成果将创建合成气凝胶的新方法、丰富气凝胶的种类、构建可见光下高效光催化产氢体系。

To convert solar energy into viable fuels, coupling light-harvesting materials to catalysts is a crucial challenge. Unlike the majority of the well-established oxide-based aerogels, low-density porous materials composed of metal chalcogenides could be capable of combining the electronic properties of chalcogenides with internal porosity which allows for the synthesis of materials with tunable, visible light absorption as well as highly polarisable surfaces and excellent surface areas. And they are thus of interest for solar-light photocatalytic hydrogen production. On the other hand, metal–organic gels (MOGs) or aerogels (MOA) are emergent soft materials with both a metal–organic framework (MOF) and gel or aerogel characteristics such as flexibility, relatively low cost of assembly, tunable porosity, and ease of synthesis. Although biological structures provide an excellent benchmark for materials synthesis and design, assembly of highly ordered functional structures, previous studies have not yet addressed the use of biotemplates in the synthesis of metal sulfide aerogels with the exception of organic and carbon aerogels, let alone the achievement of MOG or MOA. In this proposed project, the biotemplates such as photoactive compounds extracted from plants including hypocrellins and natural pigments will be directly used as structure-directing agents in preparation of metal sulfide aerogels, MOG or MOA and their composites. The visible-light photocatalytic hydrogen evolution properties of these aerogels will also be investigated. The new preparing procedures will combine semiconducting chalcogenide nanostructures with dye photosensitation, biotemplates, hierarchical porous aerogels, metal-organic aerogels. These prepared aerogels will be demonstrated to be effective for photocatalytic hydrogen production. We believe this strategy could open a new way for the biotemplating syntheses of aerogels especially metal chalcogenide, metal-organic aerogels and solar-light-driven photocatalysts.