New photocatalytic materials for the reduction of CO2 to fuels

该项目将探索利用太阳能从废物或广泛可用的原料（如二氧化碳和水）中驱动化学燃料生产的材料的开发。这种通常被称为人工光合作用的方法，有可能为碳基燃料提供一条可持续的途径。然而，为了实现这一目标，需要新的、更有效的光催化剂来将CO2还原为CO、CH3OH、CH4等产物。成功的申请人将加入一个新建立的项目，该项目将建立在我们最近的工作基础上，展示一个新的复合氧化物光催化剂家族的光催化活性。化学。Int。编辑。2014,53,14480)和新的分子二氧化碳还原催化剂(化学。科学。， 2015, DOI: 10.1039/C5SC03225C，物理学报。化学。化学。理论物理。中文信息学报，2015,17,1562)。除了开发新的催化剂，学生还将有机会利用先进的瞬态光谱来获得控制光催化活性的关键机理参数的基本理解。

The project will explore the development of materials that utilise solar energy to drive the production of chemical fuels from waste, or widely available feedstock's, such as CO2 and H2O. The approach, which is commonly called artificial photosynthesis, has the potential to offer a sustainable route to carbon based fuels. However, to realise this goal new, more efficient photocatalysts for the reduction of CO2 to products such as CO, CH3OH, CH4 are required. The successful applicant will join a newly established programme that will build upon our recent work demonstrating photocatalytic activity for a new family of complex oxide photocatalysts (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 14480) and on novel molecular CO2 reduction catalysts (Chem. Sci., 2015, DOI: 10.1039/C5SC03225C, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2015, 17, 1562). In addition to developing the new catalysts the student will also get the opportunity to utilise advanced transient spectroscopies to gain a fundamental understanding of the key mechanistic parameters controlling photocatalytic activity.