Aerogel photocatalytic diodes for carbon dioxide reduction

该项目旨在生产高效、廉价、可见光吸收、坚固、高表面积、持久、阴离子掺杂的二氧化钛光催化整料，用于介导将CO2还原为甲醇和/或甲烷，使用高水平的CO2和选择性催化剂（如Cu金属沉积物），以确保高效率（> 10%）和易于使用的燃料的生产。该项目将特别关注通过在光催化剂单块的CO2侧使用纳米颗粒金属来产生甲烷和甲醇，已知其有利于CO2的电化学还原。这些还原形式的碳燃料与燃料电池和天然气工业有关。将建造最好的单片的示范，以帮助向那些在能源行业工作的人推广该技术，在研究结束时，将鼓励他们为下一阶段的工作做出贡献，即单片光催化剂气凝胶二极管技术的后续放大和先进原型开发。该工作中真实的新奇在于将减少的碳燃料/氧气析出事件分离到坚固的无机的廉价光催化膜（即气凝胶光电二极管）的单独的相对侧，因此即使不消除各种降低效率的复合反应，也最小化了该复合反应。提案的每一部分都有其独特的方面，包括：气凝胶形式的新型光催化剂材料的制备和纳米颗粒金属催化剂的利用。该项目将为单片光催化二极管的开发提供重要的基础科学，并有可能为太阳能捕获效率提供一个台阶，并消除对温室效应的担忧。所提出的新技术的结果和示范将特别感兴趣的许多工作在能源领域，包括学术界和工业界，特别是那些与燃料电池技术和/或太阳能到化学燃料转换。

The project aims to produce efficient, inexpensive, visible light-absorbing, robust, high surface area, long-lasting, anion doped, titania photocatalytic monoliths for mediating the reduction of CO2 to methanol and/or methane, using high levels of CO2 and selective catalysts (such as Cu metal deposits) to ensure high efficiencies (> 10%) and the production of easily used fuels. The project will focus particularly on the generation methane and methanol by using nanoparticulate metals, on the CO2 side of the photocatalyst monolith, known to favour their production in the electrochemical reduction of CO2. These reduced forms of carbon fuels are of relevance to the fuel cell and natural gas industries. Demonstrators of the best of the monoliths will be constructed to help promote the technology to those working in the Energy industry, who, at the end of the study, will be encouraged to contribute to the next phase of the work, namely, the subsequent scale-up and advanced prototype development of the monolithic photocatalyst aerogel diode technology. The real novelty in the work is in the separation of the reduced carbon fuel/oxygen evolution events to the separate opposing sides of a robust, inorganic, inexpensive photocatalytic membrane, i.e. the aerogel photodiode / hence, minimising, if not eliminating the various efficiency-lowering recombination reactions. Each section of the proposal has its own unique aspect, including: the preparation of new photocatalyst materials in aerogel form and the utilisation of nanoparticulate metal catalysts. The project will produce significant underpinning science for the development of monolithic photocatalytic diodes and has the potential to offer a step change in efficiency for energy capture from the sun and also eliminate concerns over the greenhouse effect. The results and demonstration of the proposed novel technology will be of particular interest to many working in the Energy field, including academics and industry, especially those associated with fuel cell technology and/or solar energy to chemical fuel conversion.