Photoelectrochemical biomass valorisation

The solar-driven water splitting is considered a sustainable way to produce high-energy compounds, such as H₂, without the use of fossil fuels. However, the water oxidation reaction is kinetically very slow and the product -O₂- lacks the economic value. For this reasons, we started to investigate alternative oxidation reactions, not only to improve the overall efficiency of the process, but also to make it more competitive with the standard fossil fuels-based energy production. In particular, we investigate the photoelectrochemical (PEC) half-oxidation of biomasses into valuable chemicals, which can be used as monomers for the synthesis of industrially relevant compounds. To this purpose, a PEC cell is employed and different photoanodic materials are synthesised and tested. Co-catalysts and electron-mediators are also investigated to reach high values of the Faradic efficiency.