Solar Technologies for Waste-to-Chemical Conversion
Abstract :
Solar panels are well known to produce electricity, but they are also in early-stage development for the production of sustainable fuels and chemicals. These panels mimic plant leaves in shape and function as demonstrated for overall solar water splitting to produce green hydrogen by the laboratories of Nocera and Domen.1,2 This presentation will give an overview of our recent progress to construct prototype solar panel devices for the direct conversion of carbon dioxide and solid waste streams into fuels and higher-value chemicals through molecular surface-engineering of solar panels with catalysts. Specifically, a standalone ‘photoelectrochemical leaf’ based on an integrated lead halide perovskite-BiVO4 tandem light absorber architecture has been constructed for the solar CO2 reduction to produce syngas (CO and H2).3 Further manufacturing advances have enabled the reduction of material requirements to fabricate such devices and make the leaves sufficiently light weight to even float on water, thereby enabling application on open water sources.4 The tandem design also allows for the integration of biocatalysts and the selective and bias-free conversion of CO2-to-formate has been demonstrated using enzymes.5 Recent progress in catalyst-development has enabled carbon-carbon bond formation and the direct production of liquid multicarbon fuels directly from CO2.6 The versatility of the integrated leaf architecture has been demonstrated by replacing the perovskite light absorber by BiOI for solar water and CO2 splitting to demonstrate week-long stability.7
An alternative solar carbon capture and utilisation technology is based on co-deposited semiconductor powders on a conducting substrate.2 Modification of these immobilized powders with a molecular catalyst provides us with a photocatalyst sheet that can cleanly produce formic acid from aqueous CO2.8 CO2-fixing bacteria grown on such photocatalyst sheets enable the production of multicarbon products through clean CO2-to-acetate conversion.9 The deposition of a single semiconductor material on glass gives panels for the sunlight-powered conversion plastic and biomass waste into hydrogen and organic products, thereby allowing for simultaneous waste remediation and fuel production.10,11 The concept and prospect behind these integrated systems for solar energy conversion,12 related approaches,13 and their relevance to secure and harness sustainable energy supplies in a fossil-fuel free economy will be discussed.
References
[1] Reece et al., Science, 2011, 334, 645–648
[2] Wang et al., Nat. Mater., 2016, 15, 611–615
[3] Andrei et al., Nat. Mater., 2020, 19, 189–194
[4] Andrei et al., Nature, 2022, 608, 518–522
[5] Moore et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2021, 60, 26303–26307
[6] Rahaman et al., Nat. Energy, 2023, 8, 629–638
[7] Andrei et al., Nat. Mater., 2022, 21, 864–868
[8] Wang et al., Nat. Energy, 2020, 5, 703–710
[9] Wang et al., Nat. Catal., 2022, 5, 633–641
[10] Uekert et al., Nat. Sustain., 2021, 4, 383–391
[11] Bhattacharjee et al., Nat. Synthesis, 2023, 2, 182–192
[12] Andrei et al., Acc. Chem. Res., 2022, 55, 3376–3386
[13] Wang et al., Nat. Energy, 2022, 7, 13–24
Bio: Prof. Erwin Reisner: he was born and raised in the foothills of the alps in Upper Austria and studied Chemistry at the University of Vienna. He developed an early interest in bioinorganic and coordination chemistry, and his PhD studies in the Keppler group focused on ‘redox activated ruthenium anticancer drugs’. Prof. Reisner subsequently changed from medicinal inorganic chemistry to different aspects of bio-inspired energy conversion as a postdoc. In the Lippard group at MIT, he studied synthetic models of the diiron(II) active site of soluble Methane Monooxygenase, which selectively converts natural gas to methanol. He subsequently joined the Armstrong group in Oxford to work on solar hydrogen production with enzyme-nanoparticle hybrid systems. His independent career started with an EPSRC research fellowship at The University of Manchester, followed by a University Lectureship at the University of Cambridge. He is currently the Professor of Energy and Sustainability and a Fellow of St. John’s College in Cambridge, coordinator of the UK Solar Fuels network, which organises the national activities in artificial photosynthesis, and the Cambridge Creative Circular Plastics Centre.
Solar panels are well known to produce electricity, but they are also in early-stage development for the production of sustainable fuels and chemicals. These panels mimic plant leaves in shape and function as demonstrated for overall solar water splitting to produce green hydrogen by the laboratories of Nocera and Domen.1,2 This presentation will give an overview of our recent progress to construct prototype solar panel devices for the direct conversion of carbon dioxide and solid waste streams into fuels and higher-value chemicals through molecular surface-engineering of solar panels with catalysts. Specifically, a standalone ‘photoelectrochemical leaf’ based on an integrated lead halide perovskite-BiVO4 tandem light absorber architecture has been constructed for the solar CO2 reduction to produce syngas (CO and H2).3 Further manufacturing advances have enabled the reduction of material requirements to fabricate such devices and make the leaves sufficiently light weight to even float on water, thereby enabling application on open water sources.4 The tandem design also allows for the integration of biocatalysts and the selective and bias-free conversion of CO2-to-formate has been demonstrated using enzymes.5 Recent progress in catalyst-development has enabled carbon-carbon bond formation and the direct production of liquid multicarbon fuels directly from CO2.6 The versatility of the integrated leaf architecture has been demonstrated by replacing the perovskite light absorber by BiOI for solar water and CO2 splitting to demonstrate week-long stability.7
An alternative solar carbon capture and utilisation technology is based on co-deposited semiconductor powders on a conducting substrate.2 Modification of these immobilized powders with a molecular catalyst provides us with a photocatalyst sheet that can cleanly produce formic acid from aqueous CO2.8 CO2-fixing bacteria grown on such photocatalyst sheets enable the production of multicarbon products through clean CO2-to-acetate conversion.9 The deposition of a single semiconductor material on glass gives panels for the sunlight-powered conversion plastic and biomass waste into hydrogen and organic products, thereby allowing for simultaneous waste remediation and fuel production.10,11 The concept and prospect behind these integrated systems for solar energy conversion,12 related approaches,13 and their relevance to secure and harness sustainable energy supplies in a fossil-fuel free economy will be discussed.
References
[1] Reece et al., Science, 2011, 334, 645–648
[2] Wang et al., Nat. Mater., 2016, 15, 611–615
[3] Andrei et al., Nat. Mater., 2020, 19, 189–194
[4] Andrei et al., Nature, 2022, 608, 518–522
[5] Moore et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2021, 60, 26303–26307
[6] Rahaman et al., Nat. Energy, 2023, 8, 629–638
[7] Andrei et al., Nat. Mater., 2022, 21, 864–868
[8] Wang et al., Nat. Energy, 2020, 5, 703–710
[9] Wang et al., Nat. Catal., 2022, 5, 633–641
[10] Uekert et al., Nat. Sustain., 2021, 4, 383–391
[11] Bhattacharjee et al., Nat. Synthesis, 2023, 2, 182–192
[12] Andrei et al., Acc. Chem. Res., 2022, 55, 3376–3386
[13] Wang et al., Nat. Energy, 2022, 7, 13–24
Bio: Prof. Erwin Reisner: he was born and raised in the foothills of the alps in Upper Austria and studied Chemistry at the University of Vienna. He developed an early interest in bioinorganic and coordination chemistry, and his PhD studies in the Keppler group focused on ‘redox activated ruthenium anticancer drugs’. Prof. Reisner subsequently changed from medicinal inorganic chemistry to different aspects of bio-inspired energy conversion as a postdoc. In the Lippard group at MIT, he studied synthetic models of the diiron(II) active site of soluble Methane Monooxygenase, which selectively converts natural gas to methanol. He subsequently joined the Armstrong group in Oxford to work on solar hydrogen production with enzyme-nanoparticle hybrid systems. His independent career started with an EPSRC research fellowship at The University of Manchester, followed by a University Lectureship at the University of Cambridge. He is currently the Professor of Energy and Sustainability and a Fellow of St. John’s College in Cambridge, coordinator of the UK Solar Fuels network, which organises the national activities in artificial photosynthesis, and the Cambridge Creative Circular Plastics Centre.
Practical information
- Informed public
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Organizer
- Prof. Raffaella Buonsanti