ABSTRACT
The use of sunlight-driven technologies to utilise abundant solid waste resources and greenhouse gases like CO2 as feedstocks for the generation of sustainable fuels and value-added chemicals emerges as a lucrative strategy to mitigate environmental pollution, tackle our energy crisis and create a circular economy. However, the existing solar waste conversion systems are not yet suitable for practical applications owing to their low efficiencies, poor product selectivity, lack of versatility and non-reusability. We introduce (photo)electrochemical (PEC) platforms that can reform a diverse range of waste streams, including biomass, industrial by-products, and plastics, into industrially relevant value-added chemicals and clean fuels simultaneously without any externally applied bias/voltage. Along with reforming solid waste streams, the PEC systems can produce fuels such as green hydrogen and convert atmospheric CO2 from compressed or captured sources to syngas, CO or formate. The systems achieve 60–90% product selectivity and >100 μmol cm‒2 h‒1 product formation rates, which
correspond to 100–10000 times higher activity than conventional particulate photoreforming systems. The solar-driven, single-light absorber PEC devices are versatile and can be assembled in either a ‘two-compartment’ or integrated ‘artificial leaf’ configurations, with each having its specific advantages. The prototype device demonstrates the potential of such solar reforming technologies towards waste valorisation, accompanied by sustainable fuel production, approaching the thresholds required for commercial implementation.
BIOGRAPHY
Subhajit Bhattacharjee received his integrated bachelor’s and master’s (BS–MS) degree in chemical sciences from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata, India in 2019 and has recently completed his Ph.D. under Prof. Erwin Reisner from the University of Cambridge, U.K. His research broadly lies in the domain of materials and energy sciences, and primarily focuses on the design, development, and engineering of solar and electro-driven technologies for sustainable energy production, carbon capture and utilisation, and waste reforming. During his Ph.D., he and his team has pioneered the development of new and efficient solar reforming processes, including photoelectrochemical reactors and ‘artificial leaves’ for selective waste-to-fuel/chemical production, bio-electrocatalytic olefin generation systems, and chemoenzymatic reforming pathways to produce solar fuels.
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=D09eisgAAAAJ&hl=en
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/subhajit-bhattacharjee-a23291129