Publications related to A Step toward Economically Viable Solar Fuel Production

High-throughput parallel testing of ten photoelectrochemical cells for water splitting: case study on the effects of temperature in hematite photoanodes

Sophia Haussener, Isaac Thomas Holmes-Gentle, Roberto Valenza, Franky Esteban Bedoya Lora

High-throughput testing of photoelectrochemical cells and materials under well-defined operating conditions can accelerate the discovery of new semiconducting materials, the characterization of the phenomena occurring at the semiconductor-electrolyte inter ...

Royal Soc Chemistry2024

Stability and degradation of (oxy)nitride photocatalysts for solar water splitting

Sophia Haussener, Franky Esteban Bedoya Lora

Advancing towards alternative technologies for the sustainable production of hydrogen is a necessity for the successful integration of this potentially green fuel in the future. Photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical water splitting are promising concepts ...

2024

Tailoring nanocatalysts and reaction interfaces for water- and CO2-electrolysis

Thi Ha My Pham

Renewable energy sources offer a promising solution for mitigating sustainability and CO2 emissions-related issues due to their vast energy generation capacity. They enable hydrogen production via water electrolysis, as well as carbon capture and utilizati ...

EPFL2024

Green hydrogen production using Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 bioanode and cuprous oxide-based photocathode

Michele Morgante

In recent years, many efforts have been made to find alternative renewable energy sources that can ideally replace the use of fossil fuels in all aspects. One of the new emerging energy technologies is the bioelectrochemical system, of which two types are ...

EPFL2024

Assessing the Charge Carrier Dynamics at Hybrid Interfaces of Organic Photoanodes for Solar Fuels

Kevin Sivula, Yongpeng Liu, Han-Hee Cho, Alexander Wieczorek

Organic semiconductors (OSCs) have emerged as promising active layers for photoanodes to drive photoelectrochemical (PEC) oxidation reactions. Interfacing an OSC with an inorganic electron transport layer (ETL) is key to enabling both high performance and ...

Amer Chemical Soc2024

Heterogeneous catalysis via light-heat dual activation: A path to the breakthrough in C1 chemistry

Bingqiao Xie

A hybrid photothermal catalytic system, which combines both the photochemical (light) and thermal (heat) activation pathways over a bifunctional catalyst, has demonstrated remarkable levels of reaction activity and selectivity when compared with individual ...

Cell Press2024

Quantifying mass transport limitations in a microfluidic CO2 electrolyzer with a gas diffusion cathode

Sophia Haussener, Venu Gopal Agarwal

A gas diffusion electrode (GDE) based CO2 electrolyzer shows enhanced CO2 transport to the catalyst surface, significantly increasing current density compared to traditional planar immersed electrodes. A two-dimensional model for the cathode side of a micr ...

2024

Design and assessment of an evaporating water-cooled methanation reactor for a SOE-based power-to-methane system

Philippe Aubin

The transition towards clean renewable energy sources, where wind and solar are prone to variation, requires adequate energy storage. Power-to-methane (PtM) systems can be part of the solution. Specifically, solid-oxide-electrolyser (SOE) based PtM systems ...

EPFL2024

Phase-stable indium sulfide achieves an energy conversion efficiency of 14.3% for solar-assisted carbon dioxide reduction to formate

Michael Graetzel, Jingshan Luo, Xiaoyu Zhang, Jing Gao, Qixing Zhang, Jun Li

Tremendous efforts have been made in developing highly selective catalysts for electrochemical CO 2 conversion to formate. However, the rapid deactivation resulting from structural reconstruction and phase transition poses considerable challenges to the sy ...

Cell Press2024

In Search of Covalent Organic Framework Photocatalysts: A DFT-Based Screening Approach

Berend Smit, Kevin Maik Jablonka, Andres Adolfo Ortega Guerrero, Beatriz Bueno Mouriño

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) stand out as prospective organic-based photocatalysts given their intriguing optoelectronic properties, such as visible light absorption and high charge-carrier mobility. The "Clean, Uniform, Refined with Automatic Tracki ...

WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH2023

Single emulsion drops for photocatalytic water splitting as a membrane-free approach to product separation

Sophia Haussener, Esther Amstad, Swarnava Nandy, Sangram Ashok Savant, Gaia De Angelis

The coevolution of hydrogen and oxygen during photocatalytic water splitting presents a challenge for efficient product separation. Here, we demonstrate membrane-free, drop-based photocatalytic water splitting with inherent product separation and competiti ...

2023

Photoelectrochemical Cell Engineering for Solar Energy Conversion

Dan Zhang

Solar energy is the most abundant energy source, harnessing solar energy holds the solution to the challenge of increasing global energy demand and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. Photovoltaics which directly convert solar energy into electricity ...

EPFL2023

Electro- and photochemical H-2 generation by Co(ii) polypyridyl-based catalysts bearing ortho-substituted pyridines

Rosario Scopelliti, Euro Solari, Albert Ruggi, Vincent Artero, Fiorella Lucarini

Cobalt(II) complexes featuring hexadentate amino-pyridyl ligands have been recently discovered as highly active catalysts for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER), whose high performance arises from the possibility of assisting proton transfer processes v ...

ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY2023

Understanding the role of surface oxygen-containing functional groups on carbon-supported cobalt catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction

Thi Ha My Pham, Andreas Züttel, Youngdon Ko, Kangning Zhao, Liping Zhong, Manhui Wei

Supported Co-based catalysts exhibit promising catalytic activities in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) during alkaline water electrolysis. Surface functionalization of the support modulates the dispersion of the catalysts and their interaction with the ...

Royal Society of Chemistry2023

Kilowatt-scale solar hydrogen production system using a concentrated integrated photoelectrochemical device

Sophia Haussener, Saurabh Yuvraj Tembhurne, Clemens Gregor Suter, Isaac Thomas Holmes-Gentle

The production of synthetic fuels and chemicals from solar energy and abundant reagents offers a promising pathway to a sustainable fuel economy and chemical industry. For the production of hydrogen, photoelectrochemical or integrated photovoltaic and elec ...

2023

Insights into Electrocatalyst Transformations Studied in Real Time with Electrochemical Liquid-Phase Transmission Electron Microscopy

Vasiliki Tileli, Tzu-Hsien Shen, Robin Pierre Alain Girod

The value of operando and in situ characterization methodologies for understanding electrochemical systems under operation can be inferred from the upsurge of studies that have reported mechanistic insights into electrocatalytic processes based on such mea ...

Amer Chemical Soc2023

Design and operational guidelines of solar-driven catalytic conversion of CO2 and H2 to fuels

Sophia Haussener, Sha Li

Sunlight-powered catalytic conversion of CO2 and (green) H2 into fuels and chemicals via Sabatier and reverse water gas shift (RWGS) processes offers a promising solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase renewable energy utilization. The suc ...

ELSEVIER SCI LTD2023

The design and development of anion exchange membranes for hydrogen fuel cells

Xingyu Wu

Hydrogen fuel cells are an essential component of hydrogen economy, which have been advocated as a major path towards the decarbonization of the energy sector. Within the two main types of low-temperature hydrogen fuel cells, anion-exchange membrane fuel c ...

EPFL2023

Electron probing of oxygen-evolving oxide catalysts

Tzu-Hsien Shen

Water splitting is one of the cleanest ways to store energy. The production of hydrogen and oxygen gases can be utilized in fuel cells to generate electricity, power, and heat. In the water splitting process, the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), taking pla ...

EPFL2022

Solid-state synthesis of CdFe2O4 binary catalyst for potential application in renewable hydrogen fuel generation

Michael Graetzel, Shaik Mohammed Zakeeruddin

Clean energy is highly needed at this time when the energy requirements are rapidly increasing. The observed increasing energy requirement are largely due to continued industrialization and global population explosion. The current means of energy source is ...

Nature Portfolio2022