To identify and understand highly reactive surfaces for solar hydrogen production

Hydrogen is a carbon-free fuel, but its current production from chemical fuels leads to massive carbon emissions. Therefore it is of great significance to explore alternative approaches to generate hydrogen in a clean way. This project aims to develop advanced catalysts for hydrogen production from water with sunlight as the only energy input. Starting from a model catalyst - titanium dioxide, this proposal will not only identify highly reactive surfaces to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, but also understand why those surfaces offer high reactivity. Novel technology for maternieals synthesis and in-depth understanding will be applied for the design of catalysts for the production of clean hydrogen.