During the first year of the project significant advances has been made in the development of the UV-visible light catalyst and Infrared catalyst to harvest the full solar spectrum. For the UV-visible light catalyst a new photocatalyst was developed using agricultural fertilizer. To utilise the full spectrum of the sunlight, an IR light responsive material was also developed to drive the reaction. Oxygen vacancies engineering strategy was used to introduce extra band in the bandgap of traditional semiconductors, decreasing the photon energy needed for excitation. An efficient IR driven catalyst has been developed, after screening a series of semiconductor support bases and co-catalysts.
Thermal driven catalysts have been developed, as a route to thermally-driven co-catalysts that can be incorporated to UV-visible and IR photocatalysts for a combined photo- and thermal reactor using solely the infrared light for heating. Major efforts were put into synthesis and pre-screening of non-noble, 3d-transition metal catalysts that should be suited. Research focused on Cu catalysts supported on high-surface area oxide supports. The effects of support, of Cu particle size and shape, as well as the effect of water on the reactivity of the prepared catalysts in ethanol steam reforming was investigated.
Band structure studies of semiconductor catalysts were carried out and provided an in-depth learning of photocatalytic H2 evolution mechanism under visible-light and infrared irradiation. In order to exploit the full spectrum of natural light from UV, visible, to near IR, fundamental studies on a chemically and structurally modified UV-visible catalyst were performed. A series of spectroscopic, microstructural and surface-chemical characterisation facilities were established/employed to probe the band and microstructures of the selected photocatalytic systems, including UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis DRS), Femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy (fs-TAS), Nanosecond transient absorption spectroscopy (ns-TAS) scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and electronic paramagnetic resonance (EPR), among others. Those were employed to probe the underlining mechanisms of photon absorption and hot electron dynamics, in relation to structural characteristics. DFT simulations were employed to probe the band structures and guide further improvement of the catalysts.
For the development of a lab-based continuous flow system kinetic models were used to evaluate various reactor configurations and then build the most promising reactor.
Membranes systems were developed for the purification of hydrogen from the gas stream and the recovery of co-added value chemicals from the downstream side of the reactor.
Early-stage Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and techno-economic analysis (TEA) were conducted for various biomass dehydrogenation routes for several bio-alcohol feedstocks to calculate the maximum environmental and economic potential achievable with such a technology. In parallel, a literature analysis was conducted to gather, categorize, and thoroughly analyze the methodologies, models, and input-output variables adopted and suggested in the scientific community concerning the evaluation of the environmental, societal, and economic impacts of technologies and processes aimed at achieving energy transition.
