Seminars Archive

Soft Materials for Energy Applications

Abstract
As the green plants are the best examples of solar fuel production in nature, there is an enormous body of research focused on developing artificial photosynthetic systems. As photosynthesis is a complex process, researchers typically break down the system into smaller, more easily tackled pieces. The most important outcome from nature is that all the different parts demanded for the photosynthesis are orchestrated in functional photocatalytic centers through supramolecular interactions. These can be hydrophobic, π-π, van der Waals or electrostatic interactions between the different components to form active species such as the Photosystem I. Inspired from these systems, we constructed different supramolecular materials that integrate all the functions necessary to convert sunlight into fuels. In addition, will be presented techniques which can be used to transform photoactive materials to soft electronics and/or soft reusable photocatalytic system.