Anthropogenic CO₂ emission is occurring at a rate that is outpacing nature’s carbon cycle. Global CO₂ emissions from fossil fuel combustion were approximately 31 Gigaton in 2009 and are likely to rise to 57 Gigaton in 2050.[1] The overproduction of CO₂ is believed to be a major contributor to some undesirable environmental changes, such as global warming, desertification, ocean acidification, etc.[2] Therefore, alleviating the detrimental environmental effects caused by CO₂ emission has become a demanding issue in modern society.

CO₂ reduction is an ideal method not only to alleviate CO₂ emission but also to overcome the energy crisis. The ideal solution is to capture and convert CO₂ into small organic molecules with improved energy density, such as carbon monoxide (CO), formic acid, methanol, methane, and so on.[3] And CO₂ is one of the most stable molecules. A high activation barrier must be conquered for the transformation of CO₂ and one of the best external sources to overcome this barrier is solar energy.

The aim of this project is to directly use solar energy and/or electric power obtained from solar energy to convert CO₂ into valuable chemicals and fuels. Unlike the previous research on CO₂ reduction, the proposed project will integrate the advantages of photocatalysis and electrocatalysis, also generate new fundamental knowledge of the reaction mechanism and develop efficient catalysts for future applications.

The objective of this project is to enhance the photo-/electro-catalytic reduction of CO₂/H₂O to chemicals and fuels, by developing alternative reaction processes in an innovative photo-/electro-chemical reactor and designing and synthesising nanostructured photoelectrodes and electrocatalysts with high activity, stability, and reproducibility. Simultaneously, the mechanism of CO₂/H₂O reduction at the surface of photocatalysts and electrocatalysts will be studied and elucidated. Specifically, the objectives of the proposed project are

• Design and build a photo-electro-catalytic CO₂ reduction system.
• Develop Metal-based heterostructure catalysts with high activity, stability and favourable product selectivity through facet engineering.
• Reveal the mechanism of CO₂/H₂O reduction on the surface of photocatalysts and electrocatalysts to understand the synergistic effects of the photo and electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction reactions.
• Obtain the optimal reaction process of CO₂ reduction to produce favourable chemicals with a high kinetics and conversion rate.

The project will be based at the Particle and Catalysis Research Group (PartCat) – a leading (photo(electro))catalysis research group within the School of Chemical Engineering at UNSW under the leadership of Scientia Professor Rose Amal. Student interested to do PhD with us need to apply for admission and scholarship to support the study. Any question regarding admission and scholarship can be directed to Mandalena@unsw.edu.au or for project details please contact supervisors. (note: Top up scholarships available for CSC students as well as domestic high achiever students).

Supervisor: 

• Prof Rose Amal
• Dr Jeffery J Pan

References

[1]        Dimitriou, I., Garcia-Gutierrez, P., Elder, R. H., et al., Energ Environ Sci, 2015, 8, 1775-1789.

[2]        Lim, R. J., Xie, M. S., Sk, M. A., et al., Catal Today, 2014, 233, 169-180.

[3]        Habisreutinger, S. N., Schmidt-Mende, L. and Stolarczyk, J. K., Angew Chem Int Edit, 2013, 52, 7372-7408.