The work carried out in Work Package 1 involved the synthesis, surface modification, and structural study of carbon-based photocatalysts, such as carbon dots and carbon nitrides. These materials were chosen for their environmental friendliness, scalability, low cost, non-toxicity, and robustness.
Work Package 2 focused on interfacing carbon-based materials with synthetic catalysts and enzymes to explore their catalytic activity capabilities, such as immobilization and/or covalent labeling of the carbon-based light harvesters with synthetic and biological catalysts and other proteins to form hybrid systems. This was done to study the effect of the interface in photocatalytic fuel (hydrogen production and CO2 reduction reactions) or chemical production reactions.Moreover mechanistic studies of the hybrid systems under catalytic conditions were performed.
Work Package 3: Anchoring of synthetic carbon-based photocatalysts onto membranes and studying their capacity for compartmentalized reactivity. Carbon-based photocatalysts were anchored onto the natural membrane of the non-photosynthetic bacterium Shewanella Oneidensis MR-1 and artificial lipidic membranes (liposomes) to study their ability to perform an oxidation reaction outside and demonstrate electron transfer across the membrane. The goal of this study was to demonstrate efficient electron transfer across the membrane and the use of transported electrons by another encapsulated catalyst to perform a reductive transformation, thus compartmentalizing two different reactions, oxidation in the outer medium and reduction inside the membrane encapsulated space.
Work Package 4: Development of a whole cell biohybrid fuel producing catalytic system. Synthetic light harvesters were covalently attached to the membrane of the bacterium through site-specific labeling of a transmembrane cytochrome protein found in this microorganism. The covalent labeling of this protein allowed for the demonstration of the electron flow from the light harvester to the heme groups of the transmembrane protein to further engage with other fuel producing reactions.
Work Package 5 (Training) - The researcher gained experience in materials science, heterogeneous catalysis, enzymatic catalysis, biohybrid systems, and various techniques such as TEM, SEM, XPS, DLS, protein/enzyme purification, MS, ICP-OES, microfluidics and electrophoresis. She expanded her background in artificial photosynthesis, photocatalysis, homogeneous catalysis, coordination chemistry and mechanisms, by learning bioconjugation chemistry, biological techniques, and enzymatic/heterogeneous catalysis. She also gained training in technology transference between academia and industry, as well as personal effectiveness in issues relating to the commercialization of technologies, science research management, leadership and application writing.
Work Package 6 (Management, dissemination and communication) - The researcher managed the project, research budget, and data management plan, career development plan and ethics assessment. The plan for exploitation and dissemination of results from the research proposal was followed, and results were published in top tier journals and open-access repositories. She disseminated results through presentations and prestigious events, engaged with EU policy makers and had a strong social media presence.
