Prof. N. S. Sariciftci will give a lecture on Solar energy conversion strategies and CO2 recycling
His public lecture will take place on Wednesday, October 6, 09:15, main auditorium P1 of the Faculty of Chemistry.
Prof. Niyazi Serdar Sariciftci: Solar energy conversion strategies and CO2 recycling
Our civilization needs energy. Up today, the main source of energy is based on fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas. These fossil fuels are the products of the natural photosynthesis millions of years ago, stored underground and now driving the world economy. However, the sudden release of CO2 which was chemically converted over millions of years creates the sudden increase of CO2 in the atmosphere resulting in global warming due to greenhouse effect today.
In order to account for a sustainable future, the application of circular use of CO2 is needed. This idea is like natural photosynthesis, creating higher hydrocarbons from CO2 from atmosphere, water and solar irradiation. These artificially synthesized hydrocarbons can be
considered as CO2 neutral fuels like biomass. The conversion of CO2 into methane (or other synthetic fuels) using solar energy is also an important step to make an efficient, large scale solar energy storage.
We report organic as well as bio-organic catalysts which can be used in photo-electrocatalytic conversion devices. Such bio-catalysts can be enzymes as well as living bacteria immobilized on electrodes. Selectivity of such bio-catalysts is very high and combined with the room temperature operation of such bio-electro-catalytic systems makes them industrially highly attractive.
Prof. Niyazi Serdar Sariciftci is Chair Professor and Director of LIOS (Linz Institute for Organic Solar Cells) and the Institute of Physical Chemistry at JKU Linz. He is a world-leading scientist and one of the most-cited researchers in the given field.
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| Link | https://www.fch.vut.cz/en/faculty/organizational-structure/ichtep/news/f142342/d263801 |