Scheme showing the fundamentals of a NAP-XPS system and how the materials will be submitted to lateral stress to be analyzed in the presence of oxygen and water.
Nations and industries are actively pursuing investments in novel green energy technologies to attain their goals of reducing emissions and safeguarding the environment. However, certain practical hurdles persist within widely used techniques such as electrocatalysis and photocatalysis. These challenges include a heavy reliance on precious metal-based catalysts, electricity consumption, and suboptimal yields of green chemical fuels and oxidants, specifically hydrogen or hydrogen peroxide. A green and sustainable approach capable of producing hydrogen or hydrogen peroxide without noble metals is therefore desired. Currently, piezocatalysis, converting mechanical energy into sustainable chemical fuels, has emerged as a new, promising strategy to address the current energy crisis and environmental pollution concerns. Nonetheless, a substantial technological and theoretical void persists in the advancement of competitive piezocatalysts. In response to this challenge, this project aims to deliver innovative material solutions and extensive fundamental comprehension of a sustainable technique for producing hydrogen or hydrogen peroxide.
To address the critical energy and environmental concerns, photocatalytic overall water splitting has attracted considerable attention as a potential method for large-scale H2 production only from solar energy and water. In pursuit of cost-effective and widely available photocatalysts, carbon nitrides (especially, g-C3N4) made of earth-abundant elements and showing appropriate bandgaps have emerged as promising alternatives to the commonly used metal-based counterparts. Despite their potential, carbon nitrides exhibit activity in H2 production only when a sacrificial electron donor is introduced into the solution, and their high performance often hinges on the presence of a noble metal co-catalyst. Furthermore, the photocatalytic efficiency of carbon nitrides in overall water splitting is limited by its ineffective charge separation, particularly not meeting the need for the substantial overpotential associated with the O2 evolution reaction. In addressing the challenges above, the collaborative initiative C2-SPORT, involving the University of Paderborn (Germany), the University of Newcastle (Australia), and Hebei University of Science and Technology (China), proposes to provide innovative chemical solutions for sustainable technologies in photocatalytic H2 generation. C2-SPORT will also facilitate the training of four skilled professionals for the clean tech sector, foster stronger international partnerships between UPB and global entities, and contribute to the collective efforts towards building a more sustainable and promising future.
Fund: Wissenschafts kolleg-UPB
Investigator: Dr. Ying Pan, Jun. Prof. Nieves Lopez Salas, Dr. Sam Chen, A/Prof. Ran Su
Direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide from water, air, and solar energy
Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) serves as a versatile reagent extensively employed across chemical, energy storage, and water treatment industries. The photocatalytic generation of H2O2 from water and air using polymeric semiconductors has emerged as a promising sustainable approach for generating green chemicals and fuels. Focusing on efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and environmental sustainability, the primary objective of this technique is to identify highly efficient and greener photocatalysts to prioritize H2O2 production. One effective strategy could involve constructing composites utilizing COFs and cost-effective g-C3N4 materials as the photocatalysts.[1] In this project, we aim to combine the excellent properties of COF and g-C3N4 to merge the outstanding attributes of COF and g-C3N4 to develop a g-C3N4/COF composite, investigating the correlation between these components and the performance of H2O2 production.
Fund: Forschungsreserve-UPB
Investigator: Shan Wang, Dr. Ying Pan
Carbon precursors with different functional groups for carbonaceous materials with high yield
Carbon materials are widely used in various fields such as energy storage, catalysis and electronics. A common synthetic method of carbon materials is carbonization, in which suitable monomer organics are selected as precursors, and then polycondensed into desirable functional carbon materials by heat treatment. The different heteroatoms, structures and properties of the molecular precursors will bring different properties to the products, which will affect their applications. The yield and stability of carbonaceous materials are two important propertoes , particularly as we consider their production on a large scale and their long-term applications. This project aims to systematically investigate how the structure of organic precursors influences carbon yield.
