Project description
Novel semiconductor materials will be a ray of sunshine for clean hydrogen production
Transitioning from fossil fuels to cleaner renewable energy sources is critical to future energy security and to the well-being of our planet. Water-splitting photoelectrochemical cells (PECs) convert solar energy into clean hydrogen (H2) fuels. They produce H2 directly from water using only sunlight. The water-splitting process results in no greenhouse gas emissions. A key challenge is developing reliable, efficient, and cost-effective semiconductor photoelectrochemical materials. The EU-funded MFreePEC project is meeting the challenge with an entirely new class of metal-free semiconductor materials for PEC and their deposition methods. The ability to control the properties and enhance the electrochemical activity of the photoelectrochemical materials will help PECs take their rightful place in the energy landscape.
Objective
One of the most promising future sources of alternative energy involves photoelectrochemical cells (PECs) that can convert sunlight and water directly to clean hydrogen fuel. Up to now, the PEC field has been dominated mostly by metal-based materials and despite the progress in this field, semiconductors that fulfil all the stringent requirements as PEC semiconductors do not exist today and novel materials are still much sought after. Thus, the development of suitable semiconductor materials will be a game changer, allowing PECs to fulfil their role in the energy-devices landscape.
The aim of this project is to introduce a new class of metal-free materials that are particularly suitable as semiconductors in PECs through the development of new strategies for the controlled synthesis and growth of metal-free materials on various substrates, ranging from carbon nitride to nitrogen-doped carbon and new carbon-nitrogen-phosphorus/boron/sulfur materials (referred as CNXs, X = P, B or S). Central to this goal is the understanding of the growth mechanism of CNX layers from the molecular level, which will in turn permit the rational design of synthesis and deposition methods. More specifically, we will (i) develop effective deposition pathways of CNXs on substrates with controlled properties, (ii) understand the factors that determine the CNX layer properties and, from this, (iii) control CNXs properties such as band gap, exciton lifetime, crystallinity, porosity, and electronic structure, with the aim of improving their photoelectrochemical activity through rational design of the synthetic parameters.
This highly interdisciplinary proposal combines materials science, photoelectrochemistry and supramolecular chemistry. It will open up new opportunities in these fields, in particular in the synthesis and deposition of metal-free materials, and it will significantly accelerate the integration of lightweight materials into energy–conversion and other devices.
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Funding Scheme
ERC-STG - Starting GrantHost institution
84105 Beer Sheva
Israel