Project description
New catalytic assemblies turn sunlight and carbon dioxide into valuable fuel
Researchers have long dreamed of imitating photosynthesis, harnessing the energy of the Sun to generate chemical fuels. This is one of the most promising routes for sustainably meeting future energy demands. However, we lack a system that can direct light excitations towards desired chemical products with high efficiency and stability, under harsh reaction conditions. The EU-funded SECANS project aims to create a sound scientific basis for solar-to-chemical devices that achieve unprecedented combinations of efficiency and stability. The project will do so by using transition metal nitride semiconductors, an under-explored class of materials for catalysis and light absorption. SECANS researchers will develop novel nitride semiconductors optimised for solar-to-chemical energy conversion, elucidate the roles of defects, and provide new insights into the science of photochemical stability.
Objective
As photovoltaic technologies gain prominence, an outstanding challenge is the development of systems that can robustly store solar energy with high density. Within this context, the capture of sunlight and its direct conversion to chemical fuels in artificial photosystems provides a promising route for sustainably meeting future energy demands. However, a central challenge is the lack of systems that can efficiently direct light excitations towards desired chemical products with high efficiency and stability under harsh reaction conditions. In recent years, advances in using thin films to protect chemically sensitive light absorbers have relaxed the requirement for intrinsically stable semiconductors and motivate an entirely new perspective for rational design of materials and interfaces. Within this context, SECANS aims to create the scientific basis for solar-to-chemical devices that achieve unprecedented combinations of efficiency and stability, enabled by targeted exploration and rational optimization of an underexplored class of materials transition metal nitride semiconductors. The electronic structures of these materials can enable a favourable balance between large charge carrier mobility and high defect tolerance. However, due to the high stability of molecular nitrogen, the expansive range of possible nitrides is largely unexplored and their basic properties poorly understood. SECANS overcomes these challenges through an interdisciplinary approach that couples non-equilibrium semiconductor deposition and newly developed interface engineering methods, supported by advanced operando spectroscopies, to enable high efficiency light harvesting systems with self-healing interfaces. This project will develop novel nitride semiconductors optimized for solar-to-chemical energy conversion, elucidate the roles of defects and disorder on competitive kinetics within photochemical reaction cycles, and provide new insights into the science of photochemical stability.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences physical sciences electromagnetism and electronics semiconductivity
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels
- natural sciences physical sciences optics spectroscopy
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2019-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
80333 Muenchen
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.