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，转变以化石燃料为驱动的方法的意识形态是当务之急。作为一种不可再生的能源，石化产品对无数环境问题负有主要责任，这些问题需要制定可持续的方法，以最大限度地减少许多与工业相关的道路的“化学碳足迹”。光催化是促进全球清洁能源、提高化学转化的成本和能源效率以及克服当前全球许多生态挑战的重要战略。几十年来，这些优势已经被认识到，并在太阳能电池设计和替代燃料研究中被广泛利用。尽管优点远大于缺点，但光催化技术往往受到高能(紫外光)和短氧化还原寿命的限制--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缓解其中的几个缺点。我们的贡献主要集中在实现不发达的光激活Nb氧化物钙钛矿半导体上。此外，正在进行的研究重点是使用纳米颗粒掺杂剂来扩展这些材料的光响应，以结合可见光的参与，模拟太阳能。目前的建议将继续建立在这一知识的基础上，旨在通过研究1)多相纳米催化剂的协同作用，2)纳米颗粒的形态，以及3)光催化剂的孔隙率，以分级的方式提高钙钛矿型纳米复合材料的光催化效率。这种设计的每一根柱子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。我们对这一领域的贡献将拓宽我们对光驱动化学原料生产的知识--这对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，可用于工业应用。参与这项工作的学生将接触到多种多才多艺的分析和沟通技能，这些技能可以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.