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Projects: Projects for Investigator
Reference Number EP/W017075/1
Title New perspectives in photocatalysis and near-surface chemistry: catalysis meets plasmonics
Status Started
Energy Categories Other Cross-Cutting Technologies or Research 100%;
Research Types Basic and strategic applied research 100%
Science and Technology Fields PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Chemistry) 45%;
PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Physics) 45%;
PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Metallurgy and Materials) 10%;
UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation Not Cross-cutting 100%
Principal Investigator Professor A Zayats

Physics
King's College London
Award Type Standard
Funding Source EPSRC
Start Date 16 May 2022
End Date 15 May 2028
Duration 72 months
Total Grant Value £7,902,074
Industrial Sectors Aerospace; Defence and Marine; Chemicals; Energy; Environment; Manufacturing; Water
Region London
Programme NC : Physical Sciences
 
Investigators Principal Investigator Professor A Zayats , Physics, King's College London (99.985%)
  Other Investigator Dr A Kafizas , Chemistry, Imperial College London (0.001%)
Professor SA Maier , Department of Physics (the Blackett Laboratory), Imperial College London (0.001%)
Dr J Lischner , Department of Physics (the Blackett Laboratory), Imperial College London (0.001%)
Professor RFM Oulton , Department of Physics (the Blackett Laboratory), Imperial College London (0.001%)
Dr S Freakley , Chemistry, University of Bath (0.001%)
Dr I E L Stephens , Materials, Imperial College London (0.001%)
Dr F Xie , Materials, Imperial College London (0.001%)
Professor GJ Hutchings , Chemistry, Cardiff University (0.001%)
Professor R Catlow , Chemistry, University College London (0.001%)
Dr A Beale , Chemistry, University College London (0.001%)
Professor C Hardacre , Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Queen's University Belfast (0.001%)
Dr F Baletto , Physics, King's College London (0.001%)
Dr A Rakovich , Physics, King's College London (0.001%)
Dr W Dickson , Physics, King's College London (0.001%)
Professor D Richards , Physics, King's College London (0.001%)
  Industrial Collaborator Project Contact , QinetiQ Ltd (0.000%)
Project Contact , Sheffield Forgemasters Engineering Ltd (SFEL) (0.000%)
Project Contact , National Physical Laboratory (NPL) (0.000%)
Project Contact , Johnson Matthey plc (0.000%)
Project Contact , Pilkington Group Ltd (0.000%)
Project Contact , Dwr Cymru Welsh Water (0.000%)
Project Contact , Sasol Technology Research Laboratory (0.000%)
Project Contact , SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corporation), Saudi Arabia (0.000%)
Web Site
Objectives
Abstract Reducing the energy requirements and steering reactions to desired products in key chemical processes involved in the production of fuels and energy carriers for a net-zero economy and for environmental clean-up are some of the most pressing demands for a future sustainable society. This challenge is intimately linked to efficient use of the most abundant energy source available to us, light. Light also provides us with the means to control reaction pathways, opening in turn further opportunities to define new routes to the next generation of pharmaceuticals. We propose to develop a comprehensive research programme in order to understand, and harness, the application of a unified approach for harvesting light energy and channelling it to achieve required chemical outputs, with reduced generation of unwanted or hazardous by-products, using the extraordinary properties of surface plasmons, charge-density waves excited in metallic nanostructures by light. These excitations enable efficient use of electromagnetic radiation over a broad wavelength range from the ultraviolet to the infrared, while at the same time passing this energy on to energetic charge carriers and lattice oscillations, hence providing an efficient pathway from light to excited electronic states of molecules adsorbed at surfaces as well as to local heat. This combination can induce chemical transformations with lower activation barriers for chemical reactions and open up new paradigms for controlling chemical reactions switchable with light. It is here the research fields of plasmonics and catalysis meet. Our team, consisting of key experts from the UK plasmonics and catalysis communities, will explore new research directions enabled by applying plasmonic advances to catalysis (plasmo-catalysis) in order to achieve impact on technologies which are of enormous importance for a future sustainable society. The combination of superior light harvesting and tuning of reaction dynamics that this new field offers will open up a wealth of new possibilities to tackle key challenges in catalysis. In a unified approach based on fundamental research on plasmo-catalytic nanomaterials and nanostructures, we will develop common design and methodology principles and apply them to chemical reactions important in clean fuel production, environmental monitoring and clean-up, as well as pharmaceuticals manufacture. We will establish new strategies for light-driven chemical reaction pathways amenable to industrial scale-up, while at the same time educating a new set of highly interdisciplinary researchers equipped with a key set of skills needed for the advancement of a future sustainable society
Publications (none)
Final Report (none)
Added to Database 22/06/22