Research project corresponding to the call 2022 and reference CNS2022-136004, for grants for «Consolidación investigadora».
Using CO2 as raw material will become the ultimate long-lasting solution for the mitigation of greenhouse gases emission. Provided CO2 is a rather stable compound, its activation and conversion require large energy input, and it is highly desirable that such input comes from the abundant and widely spread solar energy. Therefore, the photoelectrochemical (PEC) CO2 reduction to fuels and other valuable chemicals is an excellent artificial photosynthesis approach that simultaneously addresses the valorisation of CO2 emissions and the storage of renewable solar energy. Additionally, the design of materials used in technologies for large-scale renewable energy conversion must also address sustainability and environmental issues. For this reason, functional polymer semiconductors have been considered as ideal materials for the conversion of solar energy, owing to their versatile functionality and large availability, free from geopolitical constraints.
In this sense, focoSOLAR (Functional Organic Polymer as photoelectrodes for CO2 reduction under solar illumination) action aims at the integral development of robust high-performance photocathodes for CO2 reduction, based on CPPs and CPP/inorganic semiconductor composite materials. The main focus will be on the design, synthesis and preparation of CPP and CPP/inorganic composite photoelectrodes for optimum PEC CO2 reduction, developing at the same time comprehensive descriptions of structure-performance relationships for CPPs and composite CO2 reduction photoelectrodes carrying out series of studies based on in-situ spectroscopy.
Partners: IMDEA Energy Institute
Funding Institution/Program: Ministry of Science and Innovation / European Union NextGenerationEU / PRTR / Consolidación investigadora 2022
Period: September 2023-August 2025
IMDEA Energy Institute external funding: 198.782 €
IP IMDEA Energy: Dr. Freddy Oropeza
