Polymer-supported Catalysts for H2 Production

A stipend of £15,000 per annum is offered to a strong candidate for this full-time PhD studentship in the School of Science and Engineering at Teesside University.

The development of new materials capable of harnessing energy in a clean and sustainable manner is a key challenge of our society. Sunlight is the most abundant energy source, and hydrogen production from solar water splitting would allow the generation of a renewable, storable and transportable fuel. Photocatalysts for hydrogen production are mostly based on inorganic materials or molecules. On the other hand, organic polymers have been widely used for light harvesting in organic photovoltaics, but their use in light-driven water splitting is still unexplored. The aim of this project is to combine conjugated organic polymers, whose optical and electrical properties can be tuned by modifying their building blocks, with molecular catalysts based on abundant metals. This multidisciplinary project involves the design, synthesis and characterisation of the catalysts, as well as kinetic and mechanistic studies using time resolved spectroscopies.