Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SOLAR2CHEM (Training the next generation of scientists in solar chemicals for a sustainable Europe by hybrid molecule/semiconductor devices)
Période du rapport: 2022-02-01 au 2024-06-30
Solar2Chem aims at training the next generation of scientists in solar chemicals. There is an urgent need to develop technologies capable to producing sustainably fuels and chemicals, with the final goal of displacing fossil fuels in the energy and chemical industry. As an inexhaustible source of energy, sunlight represents a very desirable solution to drive decarbonisation and tackle climate change, however harnessing sunlight and utilising it to drive chemical reactions is a major challenge for scientists.
In this project, we aim to develop technologies that can harness sunlight and drive chemical reactions to produce a variety of fuels and chemicals that are necessary for the society. We are also looking at how these technologies can be deployed to the European industry, by looking at how new renewable technologies and hydrogen have received support from public and private organisations.
In the technical part of the project, we aim at preparing new materials, membranes, reactors, etc. while in the process, training the ESRs in a wide range of skills and techniques for the synthesis, study and incorporation of these components into reactors.
During the project, the ESRs have developed several new materials for direct light-driven reactions, including carbon nitrides,metal oxide nanoparticles, hybrid molecule-semiconductor assemblies. Most of these novel materials have been thoroughly characterised by advanced techniques, such as microscopy, spectroscopy and computational chemistry. Once understood, the materials have been incorporated in reactors, modelled to optimised the performance, and used to conduct a wide range of chemical transformations. In addition, steps towards bringing the technologies of direct solar energy conversion to the market have been made by looking at the policy environment, talking to industries, engaging with policy-makers, with the objective to speed up the implementation of these technologies and reach a maturity to translate to the market.
There are currently 22 publications that have arisen from the work in the project, all published in open access journals. The ESRs have participated in several academic and non-academic conferences to explain the work done and to highlight the relevance of such a network. Overall, Solar2Chem has been a success with the delivery a several new PhD graduates, with some at the final stages of their studies, while others already working on the next stage of their careers.
In this project, we aim to develop technologies that can harness sunlight and drive chemical reactions to produce a variety of fuels and chemicals that are necessary for the society. We are also looking at how these technologies can be deployed to the European industry, by looking at how new renewable technologies and hydrogen have received support from public and private organisations.
In the technical part of the project, we aim at preparing new materials, membranes, reactors, etc. while in the process, training the ESRs in a wide range of skills and techniques for the synthesis, study and incorporation of these components into reactors.
During the project, the ESRs have developed several new materials for direct light-driven reactions, including carbon nitrides,metal oxide nanoparticles, hybrid molecule-semiconductor assemblies. Most of these novel materials have been thoroughly characterised by advanced techniques, such as microscopy, spectroscopy and computational chemistry. Once understood, the materials have been incorporated in reactors, modelled to optimised the performance, and used to conduct a wide range of chemical transformations. In addition, steps towards bringing the technologies of direct solar energy conversion to the market have been made by looking at the policy environment, talking to industries, engaging with policy-makers, with the objective to speed up the implementation of these technologies and reach a maturity to translate to the market.
There are currently 22 publications that have arisen from the work in the project, all published in open access journals. The ESRs have participated in several academic and non-academic conferences to explain the work done and to highlight the relevance of such a network. Overall, Solar2Chem has been a success with the delivery a several new PhD graduates, with some at the final stages of their studies, while others already working on the next stage of their careers.
Of relevance, 19 peer-reviewed papers have been published in the second reporting period, bringing the total to 22 across the project. Nonetheless, some more publications are underway for the ESRs that are currently finishing their PhD degree, in those institutions that the degree lasts for 4 years. The publications span the different work packages and activities done in the project, covering from synthesis, characterisation and testing of new materials as photocatalysts, computational modelling to understand the reaction mechanisms, development of new photoreactors and key insights on how to establish a solar-to-X market in Europe, with roadmapping activities aligned to other global initiatives such as Mission Innovation..
The ESRs have received extensive training during the project, with the 3 more workshops on Photophysics and Intellectual property management, science policy, public engagement, networking, diversity, inclusion and leadership, and engineering photoelectrochemical devices and entrepeneuship. These workshops were delivered by Solar2Chem partners as well as external experts coming from Europe, US and Australia. For some of the technical topics, ESRs were able to obtain further hands-on training locally at each host organisation. In addition to the training workshops, the ESRs have also organised and delivered a Winter School in Valencia in February 2023, and the Solar2Chem International Conference in Tarragona (Spain) in September 2023, with the participation of world-leading scientists as speakers as well as ca. 100 participants from European organisations, including some from other MSCA-funded actions. The conference was a great success and attendees praise the work of the organising committee for such as high quality event.
Other dissemination activities included the continuation of the Road2GreenChemicals project cluster, initiated as part of the Horizon Booster, with other EU-funded projects such as FlowPhotoChem, Decade, SunCoChem. Participation in other EU Green Week events allow to reach a wide variety of audience, with online webinars having over 200 attendees in total. The ESRs have participated in over 25 conferences to present the findings of their work. As part of the communication activities done through the project website, the newsletters have had an average open rate over 50% but most importantly, the Solar2Chem website has received over 37000 visits over the duration of the project. Looking at social media, the X account has over 1100 followers and have reached an impressive 209000 number of impressions.
The ESRs have received extensive training during the project, with the 3 more workshops on Photophysics and Intellectual property management, science policy, public engagement, networking, diversity, inclusion and leadership, and engineering photoelectrochemical devices and entrepeneuship. These workshops were delivered by Solar2Chem partners as well as external experts coming from Europe, US and Australia. For some of the technical topics, ESRs were able to obtain further hands-on training locally at each host organisation. In addition to the training workshops, the ESRs have also organised and delivered a Winter School in Valencia in February 2023, and the Solar2Chem International Conference in Tarragona (Spain) in September 2023, with the participation of world-leading scientists as speakers as well as ca. 100 participants from European organisations, including some from other MSCA-funded actions. The conference was a great success and attendees praise the work of the organising committee for such as high quality event.
Other dissemination activities included the continuation of the Road2GreenChemicals project cluster, initiated as part of the Horizon Booster, with other EU-funded projects such as FlowPhotoChem, Decade, SunCoChem. Participation in other EU Green Week events allow to reach a wide variety of audience, with online webinars having over 200 attendees in total. The ESRs have participated in over 25 conferences to present the findings of their work. As part of the communication activities done through the project website, the newsletters have had an average open rate over 50% but most importantly, the Solar2Chem website has received over 37000 visits over the duration of the project. Looking at social media, the X account has over 1100 followers and have reached an impressive 209000 number of impressions.
During the project, the ESRs have acquired a wide range of skills that, in most cases, had little experience at the start of the fellowship. For the ESRs working in synthesis and testing, the experience in research laboratories have been critical and have learnt new techniques and skills that will allow them to be technically prepared for the next step of their careers. For the ESRs working on reactor engineering and modelling, the technical skills that have acquired allowed them to collaborate with other ESRs obtaining results that are well ahead of the state of the art. This can be seen by the quality of the 22 publications available so far, which clearly demonstrate the progress beyond the state of the art in areas such as carbon nitride and graphene-type materials for photocatalytic applications, DFT modelling to study photocatalysts such as carbon nitrides, fabrication for the first time of photoelectrode-based carbon nitrides, new photoelectrochemical platforms for high throughout analysis of components and multiscale modelling applied to CO2 reduction, among others. The potential scientific and technological impacts of the work span across different disciplines, from a better understand of water splitting electrocatalysts for hydrogen production, to the development of more efficient and selective CO2 (photo)electrolysers, to applications of carbon nitride photocatalysts in organic transformations key for high-value products in pharma industry.
The ESRs have received also training of science policy, funding, negotiations, entrepreneurship, etc. that make them ready for the next step of their careers in academia, industry, policy as well as to start their own companies. Some of the work done as part of the policy framework for a solar-to-X industry has complemented other initiatives in Europe such as the Coordination Support Action SUNER-C, with close collaboration on the preparation of roadmap for the transfer of technology to the market.
The ESRs have received also training of science policy, funding, negotiations, entrepreneurship, etc. that make them ready for the next step of their careers in academia, industry, policy as well as to start their own companies. Some of the work done as part of the policy framework for a solar-to-X industry has complemented other initiatives in Europe such as the Coordination Support Action SUNER-C, with close collaboration on the preparation of roadmap for the transfer of technology to the market.