Biomass-derived Carbon Dots Enable Flexible, On-Demand Hydrogen Delivery
R&D Focus Areas:
Photochemical and photocatalytic processes, Liquid organic carriers, Mobility
Lead Organisation:
Griffith University
Partners:
Not applicable
Status:
Active
Start date:
January 2023
Completion date:
December 2025
Key contacts:
Lead Chief Investigator – Qin Li: qin.li@griffith.edu.au
Chief Investigator – Dechao Chen: Dechao.chen@griffith.edu.au
Funding:
Australian Research Council (DP230102192)
Project total cost:
AUD$439,209
Project summary description:
Methanol is a promising liquid hydrogen carrier for long distance hydrogen transportation and exportation, because it is rich in hydrogen content, low-cost, recyclable between methanol-formaldehyde, and easier to manufacture from renewable resources including biomass waste.
The critical bottleneck in adopting methanol as the carrier is the demanding dehydrogenation process. The project aims to create a new class of photocatalyst based on biomass-derived carbon nanodots grown on transition metal (di)chalcogenide nanosheets that can effectively enable a light-controlled methanol hydrogen release of desired quantity.
The key outcomes of the project will be a new class of photocatalysts and flexible, on-demand hydrogen delivery technology for liquid hydrogen carriers.
Related publications and key links:
Dechao Chen, Rohan J Hudson, Cheng Tang, Qiang Sun, Jeffery R Harmer, Miaomiao Liu, Mehri Ghasemi, Xiaomin Wen, Zixuan Liu, Wei Peng, Xuecheng Yan, Bruce Cowie, Yongsheng Gao, Colin L Raston, Aijun Du, Trevor A Smith, Qin Li, Colloidal Synthesis of Carbon Dot‐ZnSe Nanoplatelet Van der Waals Heterostructures for Boosting Photocatalytic Generation of Methanol‐Storable Hydrogen, Small, 2024, 2402613
Qilong Wu, Haiyuan Zou, Xin Mao, Jinghan He, Yanmei Shi, Shuangming Chen, Xuecheng Yan, Liyun Wu, Chengguang Lang, Bin Zhang, Li Song, Xin Wang, Aijun Du, Qin Li, Yi Jia, Jun Chen, Xiangdong Yao, Unveiling the dynamic active site of defective carbon-based electrocatalysts for hydrogen peroxide production, Nature Communications, 2023, 14, 6275
Dechao Chen, Muhammad Usman Zia, Fan Yang, Yuting Wang, Frederic D.L. Leusch, Nam-Trung Nguyen, Wei Zhang, Yongsheng Gao, Dongyuan Zhao, Colin L. Raston, and Qin Li, Ligand Mediated, Spatially Confined Carbonization of Biomass Forming High-Performance Colloidal Carbon Dots, ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng., 2023, 11, 32, 11756–11768 (Cover Page)
Amandeep Singh, Annalena Wolff, Soniya D. Yambem, Mostafa Esmaeili, James D. Riches, Mahboobeh Shahbazi, Krishna Feron, Ehsan Eftekhari, Kostya (Ken) Ostrikov, Qin Li & Prashant Sonar 2020, ‘Biowaste-Derived, Self-Organized Arrays of High-Performance 2D Carbon Emitters for Organic Light-Emitting Diodes’, Advanced Materials, vol. 32, no. 10, pp. 1906176, doi:10.1002/adma.201906176.
Shujun Wang, Ivan S. Cole & Qin Li 2016, ‘Quantum-confined bandgap narrowing of TiO2 nanoparticles by graphene quantum dots for visible-light-driven applications’, Chemical Communications, vol. 52, no. 59, pp. 9208–9211, doi:10.1039/c6cc03302d.
Zhiqing Wu, Nela Ambrožová, Ehsan Eftekhari, Nikhil Aravindakshan, Wentai Wang, Qilin Wang, Shanqing Zhang, Kamila Kočí & Qin Li 2019, ‘Photocatalytic H2 generation from aqueous ammonia solution using TiO2 nanowires-intercalated reduced graphene oxide composite membrane under low power UV light’, Emergent Materials, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 303–311, doi:10.1007/s42247-019-00029-5.
In the media:
https://news.griffith.edu.au/2024/06/17/new-material-puts-eco-friendly-methanol-conversion-in-reach/
https://www.techexplorist.com/innovative-quantum-material-eco-friendly-methanol-conversion/85281/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/new-quantum-material-puts-eco-friendly-methanol-conversion-in-reach/ar-BB1onwMU
Higher degree studies supported:
Two PhD students at Griffith University are supported by this project.
Reviewed: August 2024