Development and manufacture of photocatalyst active under visible light

Plants and other organisms are able to convert light energy, normally from the Sun, into chemical energy via photosynthesis. This energy can be later released to fuel the organisms’ activities. Certain inorganic materials can also carry out a similar process. However, this kind of inorganic materials called photocatalyst are not as smart as live organisms and they need the help of other materials to improve the efficiency of this process. In this sense, graphene the thinnest material ever consisting in a single atom layer of graphite can play a key role. Geim and Novoselov were awarded only five years ago with the Nobel Prize for “ground-breaking experiments” on graphene. They simply stuck a piece of scotch tape on a chunk of graphite and pulled off this outstanding thin layer. The ultimate goal is the development and manufacture of a new family of supported photocatalyst materials, based on graphene, which are active under a broad range of the solar radiance due to their added effectiveness under visible light. The following specific objectives have been established:

-To develop hybrid graphene-semiconductors materials (such as rG-TiO2 and rG-ZnO) with enhanced photocatalytic activity.

-To immobilize the new hybrid graphene-semiconductors on different substrates to achieve supported photocatalyst.

-To maximize the active surface area of the photocatalyst exposed to the light.

The achievement of this goal would allow the direct implementation of these materials on real applications as air/water purification, self-cleaning surfaces or water splitting into hydrogen as clean energy vector.
The success of the present investigation will lead to the further development of a wide number of energy and environmental applications that society is really concerned about, such as photocatalytic degradation of pollutants in water and air, hydrogen production from water splitting and dye-sensitized solar cells

This project will start with the synthesis, characterization and processing of semiconductor materials and different techniques such as particle size distribution, zeta potential, XRD, SEM, TEM among others will be used. Skills in synthesis and wet processing of graphene and inorganic materials together with their shaping for instance by spin and/or dip coating will also be acquired and thus fundamental learning in synthesis of nanoparticles will be developed. Finally the achievement of the new family of supported photo catalyst will also demand strategies to scale up their synthesis, activity evaluation and implementation. Collaborations with Dr. Eslava in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Bath will help us on the scale-up design and photo catalyst evaluation. Collaborations with a graphene supplier “GRAPHENEA” may also arise. Moreover the development of this project will find collaboration with the Cardiff Catalysis Institute which actually has an important collaborative work via the European Union FP7 project on photocatalysis led by Prof. Philip Davies. The ground breaking materials and methods for material fabrication that will be developed within the scope and throughout the duration of this project will definitely contribute to the continuation of UK’s industrial competitiveness.

Candidates should hold or expect to gain a first class degree or a good 2.1 and/or an appropriate Master’s level qualification (or their equivalent).

Applicants whose first language is not English will be required to demonstrate proficiency in the English language (IELTS 6.5 or equivalent)