ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) holds great promise for conversion of the green-house gas carbon dioxide into chemical fuels. The absence of catalytic materials demonstrating high performance and high selectivity currently hampers practical demonstration. CO2RR is also limited by the low solubility of CO2 in the electrolyte solution and therefore electrocatalytic reactions in gas phase using gas diffusion electrodes would be preferred. 2D materials have recently emerged as a novel class of electrocatalytic materials thanks to their rich structures and electronic properties. The synthesis of novel 2D catalysts and their implementation into photocatalytic systems would be a major step towards the development of devices for storing solar energy in the form of chemical fuels. With 2D-4-CO2, I propose to: 1) develop novel class of CO2RR catalysts based on conducting 2D nanosheets and 2) demonstrate photocatalytic conversion of CO2 into chemical fuels using structure engineered gas diffusion electrodes made of 2D conducting catalysts. To reach this goal, the first objective of 2D-4-CO2 is to provide guidelines for the development of novel cutting-edge 2D catalysts towards CO2 conversion into chemical fuel. This will be possible by using a multidisciplinary approach based on 2D materials engineering, advanced methods of characterization and novel designs of gas diffusion electrodes for the reduction of CO2 in gas phase. The second objective is to develop practical photocatalytic systems using van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures for the efficient conversion of CO2 into chemical fuels. vdW heterostructures will consist in rational designs of 2D materials and 2D-like materials deposited by atomic layer deposition in order to achieve highly efficient light conversion and prolonged stability. This project will not only enable a deeper understanding of the CO2RR but it will also provide practical strategies for large-scale application of CO2RR for solar fuel production.

1 499 931 €

Start date: 2019-01-01, End date: 2023-12-31

The goal of 2D-TOPSENSE is to exploit the remarkable stretchability of two-dimensional semiconductors to fabricate optoelectronic devices where strain is used as an external knob to tune their properties. While bulk semiconductors tend to break under strains larger than 1.5%, 2D semiconductors (such as MoS2) can withstand deformations of up to 10-20% before rupture. This large breaking strength promises a great potential of 2D semiconductors as ‘straintronic’ materials, whose properties can be adjusted by applying a deformation to their lattice. In fact, recent theoretical works predicted an interesting physical phenomenon: a tensile strain-induced semiconductor-to-metal transition in 2D semiconductors. By tensioning single-layer MoS2 from 0% up to 10%, its electronic band structure is expected to undergo a continuous transition from a wide direct band-gap of 1.8 eV to a metallic behavior. This unprecedented large strain-tunability will undoubtedly have a strong impact in a wide range of optoelectronic applications such as photodetectors whose cut-off wavelength is tuned by varying the applied strain or atomically thin light modulators. To date, experimental works on strain engineering have been mostly focused on fundamental studies, demonstrating part of the potential of 2D semiconductors in straintronics, but they have failed to exploit strain engineering to add extra functionalities to optoelectronic devices. In 2D-TOPSENSE I will go beyond the state of the art in straintronics by designing and fabricating optoelectronic devices whose properties and performance can be tuned by means of applying strain. 2D-TOPSENSE will focus on photodetectors with a tunable bandwidth and detectivity, light emitting devices whose emission wavelength can be adjusted, light modulators based on 2D semiconductors such as transition metal dichalcogenides or black phosphorus and solar funnels capable of directing the photogenerated charge carriers towards a specific position.

1 930 437 €

Start date: 2018-03-01, End date: 2023-02-28

The field of C-H bond activation has evolved at an exponential pace in the last 15 years. What appeals most in those novel synthetic techniques is clear: they bypass the pre-activation steps usually required in traditional cross-coupling chemistry by directly metalating C-H bonds. Many C-H bond functionalizations today however, rely on poorly atom and step efficient oxidants, leading to significant and costly chemical waste, thereby seriously undermining the overall sustainability of those methods. As restrictions in sustainability regulations will further increase, and the cost of certain chemical commodities will rise, atom efficiency in organic synthesis remains a top priority for research. The aim of 2O2ACTIVATION is to develop novel technologies utilizing O2 as sole terminal oxidant in order to allow useful, extremely sustainable, thermodynamically challenging, dehydrogenative C-N and C-O bond forming coupling reactions. However, the moderate reactivity of O2 towards many catalysts constitutes a major challenge. 2O2ACTIVATION will pioneer the design of new catalysts based on the ultra-simple propene motive, capable of direct activation of O2 for C-H activation based cross-couplings. The project is divided into 3 major lines: O2 activation using propene and its analogues (propenoids), 1) without metal or halide, 2) with hypervalent halide catalysis, 3) with metal catalyzed C-H activation. The philosophy of 2O2ACTIVATION is to focus C-H functionalization method development on the oxidative event. Consequently, 2O2ACTIVATION breakthroughs will dramatically shortcut synthetic routes through the use of inactivated, unprotected, and readily available building blocks; and thus should be easily scalable. This will lead to a strong decrease in the costs related to the production of many essential chemicals, while preserving the environment (water as terminal by-product). The resulting novels coupling methods will thus have a lasting impact on the chemical industry.

1 489 823 €

Start date: 2017-03-01, End date: 2022-02-28

Wave-particle interactions are ubiquitous in nature and play a fundamental role in astrophysical and fusion plasmas. In solar plasmas, magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) fluctuations are thought to be responsible for the heating of the solar corona and the generation of the solar wind. In magnetically confined fusion (MCF) devices, enhanced particle transport induced by MHD fluctuations can deteriorate the plasma confinement, and also endanger the device integrity. MCF devices are an ideal testbed to verify current models and develop mitigation / protection techniques. The proposed project paves the way for providing active control techniques to tame the MHD induced particle transport in a fusion plasma. A solid understanding of the interaction between energetic particles and MHD instabilities in the presence of electric fields and plasma currents is required to develop such techniques. I will pursue this goal through innovative diagnosis techniques with unprecedented spatio-temporal resolution. Combined with state-of-the-art hybrid MHD codes, a deep insight into the underlying physics mechanism will be gained. The outcome of this research project will have a major impact for next-step MCF devices as I will provide ground-breaking control techniques for mitigating MHD induced particle transport in magnetized plasmas. The project consists of 3 research lines which follow a bottom-up approach: (1) Cutting-edge instrumentation, aiming at the new generation of energetic particle and edge current diagnostics. (2) Unravel the dynamics of energetic particles, electric fields, edge currents and MHD fluctuations. (3) From lab to space weather: The developed models will revolutionize our understanding of the observed particle acceleration and transport in the solar corona. Based on this approach, the project represents a gateway between the fusion, astrophysics and space communities opening new avenues for a common basic understanding.

1 512 250 €

Start date: 2019-05-01, End date: 2024-04-30