Metal oxides nanocomposites with reduced graphene oxide for water splitting reactions and photocatalytic reduction of CO2

• Grant number: 15/23775-3
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): June 01, 2016
• Effective date (End): February 29, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Ana Flávia Nogueira
• Grantee: Saulo Do Amaral Carminati
• Home Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 16/23178-8 - Elucidating the photoinduced charge carriers mobility in photocatalysts passivated with thin conformal coatings to improve the water splitting efficiency, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

The search for clean and renewable energy provides an immediate task to meet the the world's growing demand for energy, which could double by 2050, due to population and industrialization growth. The H2 production by reducing water molecules, which can be performed in a photoelectrochemical system using solar light is an elegant approach to alleviate this issue. Another current approach to minimizing the environmental impact generated by burning fossil fuels is the CO2 photoreduction. This process aims to convert CO2 (along with water) into usable products such as methane, formaldehyde and methanol using sunlight. Among the most widely studied semiconductors, bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) and iron oxide (hematite, Fe2O3) are candidates with potential for use in photocatalysis. In this work, we propose the incorporation of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) in semiconductor photoanodes and charge recombination studies using the technique of transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS). Thus, in this PhD project, we propose a detailed study on the role of graphene and graphene derivatives in two applications: photodegradation of water and CO2 photoreduction. It is expected from this work, a deeper knowledge about the performance of this material in photocatalytic reactions, which is still controversial in the literature.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

CARMINATI, SAULO AMARAL; BARBOSA, ANDRE DO NASCIMENTO; MARTINS DE FREITAS, ANDRE LUIZ; FREIRE, JR., FERNANDO LAZARO; SOUZA, FLAVIO LEANDRO; NOGUEIRA, ANA FLAVIA. Unraveling the role of single layer graphene as overlayer on hematite photoanodes. JOURNAL OF CATALYSIS, v. 372, p. 109-118, APR 2019. Web of Science Citations: 0.