Why make oxygen when you could make useful chemicals instead?

Solar-driven fuel synthesis is a sustainable and potentially economical technology for producing energy carriers such as “green” H2 fuel through water splitting. Photocatalytic water splitting processes are usually limited by the water oxidation half-reaction, which is kinetically and energetically demanding as well as requires often expensive catalysts and unsustainable sacrificial reagents. Our research aims to overcome these challenges by using alternative oxidation half-reactions to drive the breakdown of waste polymers or chemicals into valuable organic products. We utilise a variety of novel photocatalysts – including quantum dots and carbon-based nanomaterials – to (1) develop light-driven, high-yield organic transformations and (2) “photoreform” plastic- or biomass-derived waste into organics and fuel. Our aim is to enhance the sustainability and economic value of solar fuels by developing processes that simultaneously produce fuels and drive value-added organic transformations.

Selected recent publications

Solar-driven reforming of solid waste for a sustainable future.

Uekert, T.; Pichler, C. M.; Reisner, E. Nat. Sustain., 2021, 4, 383-391.

Solar reforming as an emerging technology for circular chemical industries.

Bhattacharjee, S.; Linley, S.; Reisner, E. Nat. Rev. Chem., 2024, 8, 87-105.

Photoelectrochemical CO2-to-fuel conversion with simultaneous plastic reforming.

Bhattacharjee, S.; Rahaman, M.; Andrei, V.; Miller, M.; Rodríguez-Jiménez, S.; Lam, E.; Pornrungroj, C.; Reisner, E. Nat. Synth., 2023, 2, 182-192.

Comproportionation of CO2 and cellulose to formate using a floating semiconductor-enzyme photoreforming catalyst.

Lam, E.; Miller, M.; Linley, S.; Manuel, R. R.; Pereira, I. A. C.; Reisner, E. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2023,62, e202215894.

Solar reforming of biomass with homogeneous carbon dots.

Achilleos, D.; Yang, W.; Kasap, H.; Savateev, A.; Markushyna, Y.; Durrant, J.; Reisner, E. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2020, 59, 18184-18188.

Chemoenzymatic photoreforming: a sustainable approach for solar fuel generation from plastic feedstocks.

Wakerley, Bhattacharjee, S.; Guo, C.; Lam, E.; Holstein, J. M.; Pereira, M. R.; Pichler, C. M.; Pornrungroj, C.; Rahaman, M.; Uekert, T.; Hollfelder, F.; Reisner, E. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2023, 145, 20355-20364.