Welcome to ORF–MetaCatalysis research at the University of Toronto
Introduction
The ORF-MetaCatalysis project “MetaCatalysts for Photo-Thermo-Electro-Chemical Transformation of Oxygenated Compounds: Towards Solar Hydrogen and Circular Carbon Economy” seeks to develop novel metamaterials-metasurfaces-metacolloids for efficacious utilization-conversion of electromagnetic radiant energy (solar and thermal) into chemical fuels and feedstock products with the underlying motivation of advancing the vision of sustainable systems. The research builds on recent advances within the AP2D Research Group in the field of catalysis and metamaterials.
Electromagnetic metamaterials are materials designed with periodic subwavelength features to produce unconventional interactions with light and have been recently applied to photocatalysis, namely “metacatalysis”. In 2021 AP2D labs successfully developed a photothermal metacatalyst which demonstrated over 98% absorption in the visible and 181x enhanced CO2 to methanol reduction rate upon illumination compared to only 3x in conventional planar structures.
Current research activities encompass theoretical and computational design studies of a range of metamaterial-metasurface constructs in relation to utilization of solar energy vis-à-vis junctions/interfaces promoting resonant charge injection and thus promoting site specific electron and hole reactions, availing thermal emission in the near-field and far-field in relation to activation of specific reaction steps, and examining the role of metamaterials in relation to electrochemical – photoelectrochemical reactions.
Key areas of interest include reduction of carbon dioxide under solar illumination leading to highly-efficient conversion of solar energy to solar fuels such as methanol; water splitting under solar illumination wherein longer wavelength light is effectively utilized for the conversion of solar to hydrogen energy; super Planckian surfaces for effective utIlization of thermal emission vis-à-vis a multitude of thermochemical reactions; and metasurface designs in relation to higher efficiency electrochemical – photoelectrochemical electrodes. Other chemistries of interest (formation of ammonia, water remediation, improving air quality) also fall under this purview in relation to availing the unique properties of metamaterials/metasurfaces.
In sum, the objective of this Ontario Research Fund program is to research, develop and integrate, and thus realize metamaterial catalysis that will serve to enhance the efficiency of (energy, kinetics and selectivity) of renewably-powered processes which hence enable a sustainable chemical fuels and feedstock industry – wherein the overarching goal is to realize economically viable small scale modular photoreactor systems that can be deployed widely.
This program entails national and international collaboration with academia and industry.
Project Overview
Using solar energy, an essentially everlasting limitless source of non-polluting energy, to produce clean fuels and green chemicals underpins the vision of developing circular sustainable economies.
Catalysts are foundational to the chemical fuels and feedstock industry – it is estimated that 90% of all commercially produced chemical products involve catalysts at some stage in the manufacturing/refining process. Catalysts in the simplest sense improve the energy efficiency and rate of chemical reactions – where reactions proceed thermo-catalytically, electro-catalytically or photo-catalytically.
An enduring challenge in this field is photo-catalysis, that is, efficient utilization of solar energy in catalytic processes to form or break chemical bonds that would ultimately lead to manufacture of clean fuels and value-added products. While chemically suitable candidate materials have been identified to serve as catalysts for many photocatalytic reactions, the efficiency of these materials in absorbing the sunlight and converting the full-spectrum solar energy into products is not enough to make solar-driven photocatalytic processes commercially viable.
The objective of this project is to address this challenge through research and development of a new paradigm in catalysis – metamaterial catalysis. Metamaterials are engineered materials where size, shape, and orientation are carefully designed to collectively yield materials with unprecedented properties that otherwise do not exist naturally.
As such, this fundamental approach opens a whole new paradigm for catalytic materials discovery and development – underpinned by the application of scientific principles and rational design. It is thus the goal of this project to develop and deploy metamaterial catalysis for sustainable generation of solar fuels and chemicals. Specifically, we propose the novel approach of metamaterial catalysis design wherein electromagnetic properties of the metacatalyst can be devised to achieve specific thermal and optical responses whereby further gains in catalytic energy efficiency, reaction rate and selectivity can be realized.
Project Objectives
The focus of this project is to research, develop and integrate, and thus realize metamaterial catalysis that will serve to enhance the efficiency (energy, kinetics and selectivity) of renewably-powered processes which hence enable a sustainable chemical fuels and feedstock industry – wherein the overarching goal is to realize economically viable small scale modular reactor systems that can be deployed widely.
This project involves four research themes wherein each theme encompasses specific research thrusts, which progressively culminate in the development and integration of key technology elements comprising high-efficiency metamaterial catalysis. The four Research Themes (A to D) are summarized below.
- MetaMaterial Catalyst Design, Fabrication and Characterization
- Reduction of Carbon Dioxide
- Water Splitting
- Preliminary Modular Reactor Design & Techno-Economic Studies
Through a multidisciplinary approach, we aim to establish the catalytic chemistry in Metamaterials Catalysts through designing and synthesizing metacatalysts (Theme A), undertaking rigorous kinetic explorations of chemical transformations of oxygenated compounds of CO2 (Theme B) and H2O (Theme C), which together will allow us to establish the structure-reactivity relationships for metamaterial catalysis. Within this framework, we will investigate the capability of metacatalysts to harvest light, effectively utilize thermal energy, enhance reactivity under electric and light fields, in ways not found in nature, and thus provide a path towards efficiently energizing strong bonds thereby breaking the current ceilings within conventional processes. As we advance this research and establish the proof-of-concept results at bench-scale, we will subsequently undertake small-scale modular reactor design studies and allied techno-economic analysis to pave the road to technology transfer (Theme D).
The research activities will also encompass benchmarking our work against those of other other groups working on metamaterial or plasmonic catalysis.