Periodic Reporting for period 1 - LASERION (Laser-patterned hierarchical porous electrodes for the foreseen Iontronics technology)
Période du rapport: 2023-01-01 au 2025-10-31
LASERION addresses one of today’s central energy challenges: how to convert sunlight, water and carbon dioxide into clean fuels and chemicals with minimal use of critical raw materials. The project focus has shifted to photoelectrocatalysis, a technology that combines light absorption and electrochemistry to drive reactions such as hydrogen production and CO2 conversion at lower energy demand and with higher selectivity. In this approach, light generates charge carriers in a semiconductor while an external circuit steers their direction and reaction pathways.
The overall objective was to design and understand new carbon-based hybrid materials and electrodes that can operate in realistic electrochemical conditions and serve as building blocks for “Solar-to-X” systems, where “X” stands for green hydrogen, syngas and value-added chemicals. LASERION specifically explored carbon nitride semiconductors, bio-based binders and inorganic benchmarks to build advanced interfaces that are metal-lean, fluorine-free and compatible with future environmental regulations. At the same time, the project provided a small high-throughput electrochemical platform of six half-cells and to provide advanced training in electrochemistry, spectroscopy and device engineering.
By combining sustainable materials with rational device design, LASERION contributes to the development of cleaner, more efficient energy-conversion technologies that can support climate-neutrality targets, reduce dependence on imported critical materials and pave the way for greener industrial processes in Europe.
The overall objective was to design and understand new carbon-based hybrid materials and electrodes that can operate in realistic electrochemical conditions and serve as building blocks for “Solar-to-X” systems, where “X” stands for green hydrogen, syngas and value-added chemicals. LASERION specifically explored carbon nitride semiconductors, bio-based binders and inorganic benchmarks to build advanced interfaces that are metal-lean, fluorine-free and compatible with future environmental regulations. At the same time, the project provided a small high-throughput electrochemical platform of six half-cells and to provide advanced training in electrochemistry, spectroscopy and device engineering.
By combining sustainable materials with rational device design, LASERION contributes to the development of cleaner, more efficient energy-conversion technologies that can support climate-neutrality targets, reduce dependence on imported critical materials and pave the way for greener industrial processes in Europe.
Experimentally, the project covered the full chain from materials synthesis to device-level testing. A family of carbon nitride-based materials, including polymeric, amorphous and crystalline derivatives as well as single-atom and nanoparticle hybrids, was synthesized under controlled thermal treatments and gas atmospheres. These materials were integrated into thin-film electrodes on transparent conductive glass substrates and into compact reactor architectures.
A key achievement was the development of fluorine-free, bio-based electrodes using ethyl cellulose as a binder. This approach replaces conventional fluorinated ionomers like Nafion with a renewable polymer that provides strong adhesion between catalyst particles and the conductive substrate, enabling stable operation without persistent fluorinated chemicals. The strategy was successfully applied to crystalline carbon nitride electrodes for hydrogen evolution and to mixed inorganic–organic heterostructures, demonstrating that greener electrode architectures can match or even outperform benchmark systems, like Pt/C.
To accelerate screening, a modular electrochemical platform with six parallel cells was designed and implemented. This allowed simultaneous testing of multiple electrocatalysts under controlled conditions. Routine characterization (structural, optical, thermal and electronic) was complemented by advanced methods such as X-ray absorption spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, surface photovoltage and time-resolved microwave conductivity. These techniques revealed how composition, morphology and interfacial bonding govern light absorption, charge separation and catalytic performance.
The materials were evaluated in several relevant reactions: alkaline hydrogen evolution, oxygen evolution and CO2 electroreduction to syngas. The project generated multiple open-access publications, two patent families (on synthetic-fuel generation and fluorine-free hydrogen-evolution electrodes) and preprints on scaling low-temperature CO2-to-syngas electroreduction and on multi-material 3D-printed photoelectrocatalytic composites.
A key achievement was the development of fluorine-free, bio-based electrodes using ethyl cellulose as a binder. This approach replaces conventional fluorinated ionomers like Nafion with a renewable polymer that provides strong adhesion between catalyst particles and the conductive substrate, enabling stable operation without persistent fluorinated chemicals. The strategy was successfully applied to crystalline carbon nitride electrodes for hydrogen evolution and to mixed inorganic–organic heterostructures, demonstrating that greener electrode architectures can match or even outperform benchmark systems, like Pt/C.
To accelerate screening, a modular electrochemical platform with six parallel cells was designed and implemented. This allowed simultaneous testing of multiple electrocatalysts under controlled conditions. Routine characterization (structural, optical, thermal and electronic) was complemented by advanced methods such as X-ray absorption spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, surface photovoltage and time-resolved microwave conductivity. These techniques revealed how composition, morphology and interfacial bonding govern light absorption, charge separation and catalytic performance.
The materials were evaluated in several relevant reactions: alkaline hydrogen evolution, oxygen evolution and CO2 electroreduction to syngas. The project generated multiple open-access publications, two patent families (on synthetic-fuel generation and fluorine-free hydrogen-evolution electrodes) and preprints on scaling low-temperature CO2-to-syngas electroreduction and on multi-material 3D-printed photoelectrocatalytic composites.
LASERION delivered several advances beyond the state-of-the-art in sustainable Solar-to-X materials and interfaces. Scientifically, the project provided new insight into how carbon nitride interfaces with metals and oxides in controlled ratios can be engineered to extend visible-light absorption, prolong charge-carrier lifetimes and tune reaction selectivity. Long stable electrodes on metal/carbon nitrides were found with EPFL collaborators on CO2 electroreduction to syngas reaching relevant current densities. For several sub-projects, combining synchrotron-based X-ray techniques with ultrafast spectroscopies allow to correlate atomic-scale structure, defect chemistry and carrier dynamics with photoelectrocatalytic performance in a quantitative way.
Technologically, the introduction of ethyl cellulose as a fluorine-free binder for hydrogen-evolution electrodes at mild fuel cell temperature (60 °C) operation represents a promising alternative to perfluorinated polymers. These bio-based electrodes showed high activity and stability in alkaline media, pointing to a realistic route for reducing the environmental and regulatory risks associated with fluorinated materials in electrochemical devices. The modular high-throughput electrochemical platform developed in the project contributes to faster and more reproducible testing of catalyst libraries.
The knowledge generated in LASERION identifies several needs and opportunities for further uptake: long-term durability studies under industrially relevant conditions such as accelerate aging tests; techno-economic and life-cycle assessments of fluorine-free and bio-based components; integration of the most promising materials into full membrane-electrode assemblies; and closer collaboration with industrial partners to validate performance at pilot scale. The open-science approach, including preprints and detailed experimental protocols, facilitates replication and reuse of the results by the wider community.
Technologically, the introduction of ethyl cellulose as a fluorine-free binder for hydrogen-evolution electrodes at mild fuel cell temperature (60 °C) operation represents a promising alternative to perfluorinated polymers. These bio-based electrodes showed high activity and stability in alkaline media, pointing to a realistic route for reducing the environmental and regulatory risks associated with fluorinated materials in electrochemical devices. The modular high-throughput electrochemical platform developed in the project contributes to faster and more reproducible testing of catalyst libraries.
The knowledge generated in LASERION identifies several needs and opportunities for further uptake: long-term durability studies under industrially relevant conditions such as accelerate aging tests; techno-economic and life-cycle assessments of fluorine-free and bio-based components; integration of the most promising materials into full membrane-electrode assemblies; and closer collaboration with industrial partners to validate performance at pilot scale. The open-science approach, including preprints and detailed experimental protocols, facilitates replication and reuse of the results by the wider community.