Research Projects

The proposed research for startup Research Grant (sRG) aims to design and develop UV-visible light active rooftop photocatalyst panels (thinfilms) to generate green hydrogen and value-added chemicals from water/glycerol mixture using sunlight harvesting. The study proposes the preparation of single atom and nanoparticle forms of Cu with TiO2 for efficient, cost-effective, large-scale H2 generation, creating a sustainable way of fuel production and waste management. Hydrogen (H2) production from inexhaustible resources such as water and sunlight is crucial for various sectors such as transport, chemical, food, electronic, and pharma. However, the low efficiency of hydrogen generation due to high recombination times and high reaction barriers has hindered the commercial success of photo (solar) catalytic H2 production technology. Numerous efforts have been made to develop UV-Visible active materials that extend light harvesting up to approximately 50% of sunlight. One such effort is the preparation of Cu/TiO2 based heterojunction materials, which improve light harvesting ability and make H2 generation more efficient and cost-effective due to low-cost Cu. The proposed thinfilm-based photocatalyst panels will be made of Cu/TiO2 catalysts with a bandgap of around 2.2-2.7 eV, harvesting both UV and visible light, constituting approximately 50% of sunlight. This will improve the efficiency of the process at large scale ambitions and contribute to potential scientific and technological solutions of societal importance.