Polymer Nanoparticle for Hydrogen Evolution

The synthesis of fuels and chemicals from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide is an important route to sustainable development beyond fossil fuels. Carbon-based materials and organic semiconductor nanoparticles are promising for use as low-cost and efficient photocatalyst materials, however, their photophysical properties remain poorly understood. The EU-funded PolyNanoCat project will use transient optical emission and absorption spectroscopies to study how the structure of polymer/non-fullerene heterojunction nanoparticles affects the photocatalysis mechanism. Discovering the correlation between the photocatalytic activity and the photophysical properties of polymer photocatalysts will guide the design of novel, stable and efficient catalysts for solar-to-fuel conversion.