The project - CATART Project

new synergies

CATART Project vision

Mimicking the chemical production of nature is a well pursued dream in the scientific community. Scientific progress is limited by the lack of efficient synergies among complex functions and by a much smaller research library than nature. CATART will explore new synergies in reaction robots that mimic nature in a much faster way. This will be achieved using H₂O and CO₂ as model substrates.

We propose systems containing 3-D quantum dot networks with the ability to simultaneously harvest sunlight by luminescence, photocatalyse substrates and separate products. These phenomena will be managed by artificial intelligence, leading to reaction robots that autonomously learn and instantly maximize productivity. The envisioned system will revolutionize the way chemicals are produced. CATART will contribute to a game-changing chemical technology, placing EU industry and society in a privileged situation to face future economic and environmental constraints.

Goals and Work Plan

The objectives in CATART are divided in distinct breakthroughs (BT) to achieve the final project goal:

BT1. Full Sunlight-Harvesting and Photon-Waveguiding

CATART will design a Luminescent Solar Concentrator Photo-Microreactor (LSC-PM) to photocatalyse under visible light (VIS) irradiation. The solar spectrum will be deliberately tuned to overcome absorbance limits, reaching high efficiency (20%). CATART proposes: i) to directly harvest VIS and to down-convert UV light into visible light in a LSC panel; ii) to indirectly use infrared (IR) in a photovoltaic (PV) panel by turning into electricity. The combined system allows photon-delivery by luminescence via both direct and indirect sources.

BT2. Photo-Active Quantum Dots with Flexible features

A bottom-up approach will preserve low band-gap governing photocatalysis and tune the energy levels of targeted conduction band / valence band (CB/VB). Organic materials modified with substitutional covalent heteroatoms and metal doping will create new semiconductor heterojunctions, intimate photo-physicochemical sites and fast e– transfer. Unlike weakly bound co-catalysts, targeted photocatalysts in CATART will possess plenty of traps, avoiding e– recombination and ensuring that single metals are only exploited for redox tuning in CO₂ and H₂O reactions. These materials will be tested under innovative catalytic conditions and studied under operando spectroscopy and ab-initio models.

BT3. M+PHI Quantum Dots with 3-D structure: Intimate Photocatalytic and Separation functions

Membranes will be intentionally designed to be integrated with photocatalysts, with the feature to separate H₂ or CO from their reaction mixtures by tailoring the separation features in narrow channels. Novel approaches will be included to achieve mutual photocatalytic and permeation features in order to enhance the production into H2 or CO. This will require to find compatible feature and operation conditions that maximise the purity and productivity of targeted molecules.

BT4. Machine Learning robot to Discover & Optimize Synergies

A robotic device using Artificial Intelligence (AI) for decision-making allows autonomous experiments with minimal human effort. CATART will use AI tools to explore and integrate breakthroughs. We expect that envisioned reaction robots will have their AI-computers to diversify applications under real scenarios. The robot will achieve 10-1000 faster breakthroughs via computer optimization runs and lab-confirmation in parallel, as well as enhanced photo-functions of quantum dots and synergies by Machine Learning.

Impact/Expected results

The envisioned system will revolutionize the way chemicals are produced. CATART will contribute to a game-changing chemical technology, placing EU industry and society in a privileged situation to face future economic and environmental constraints.

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