Project Overview

Energy and fuel production through solar light harvesting is one of the viable options to decrease carbon emissions. However, a valuable alternative to fossil fuels requires the development of cost-competitive materials. Semiconductor metal oxides are among the most widely adopted materials for solar energy conversion into chemical energy (H₂), produced via photocatalytic water splitting.

Here, we aim to develop low-cost and energy-efficient artificial photosynthesis units to produce H₂ from water. The system consists of TiO₂ decorated with single-site catalysts, i.e., single-type atoms or a combination of atoms as co-catalyst.

We focus on synthesizing, discovering, and analyzing the effectiveness of newly designed catalysts based on single, bi-, or multi-atom decorated semiconductors intended for photocatalytic H₂ evolution.

The result of this research can significantly enhance the normalized photocatalytic activity of the atomically decorated semiconductors compared to a conventional nanoparticle-decorated substrate.