Developing Sustainable Pathways to Fuels and Chemicals

Nearly all the fuels and chemicals produced and consumed today are derived from fossil resources. This talk will describe recent efforts to develop new, renewable pathways to produce the same kinds of fuels and chemicals that our society relies on, though in a sustainable manner. In particular, the talk will focus on two areas of sustainable technology: (1) Solar-based processes for the renewable production of H2 from water, and (2) CO2 conversion to produce carbon-based fuels and chemicals. Keys to improving these technologies for widespread commercialization involve the development of higher performance semiconductors, interfaces, and catalyst materials for high efficiency, stability, and selectivity for targeted products. This talk will describe challenges in the field and our means to address them through our research efforts to engineer improved materials and devices.

Speaker: Tom Jaramillo, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and of Photon Science