Accessible energy resources and clean water are nowadays among the highest priorities sustaining economic growth and societal wellbeing. Although the interdependency of energy and water is well known, the related technologies are still not sufficiently integrated. The groundbreaking idea of NaSCEnT project is to produce the clean energy while cleaning the water thus creating the shift of water-energy nexus paradigm. The underlying mechanism of photocatalytic processes for water purification and photoelectrochemical processes for energy conversion is basically the same. Both H2 production by water splitting and photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants in water rely on the formation of electron/hole (e-/h+) pairs at a semiconducting material upon its excitation by the light with sufficient photon energy.

 

The main goal of NaSCEnT is to develop novel nano-sized catalyst material (NCM) tailored to effectively harvest solar irradiation for simultaneous solar driven water purification and H2 production. Accordingly, NCM will be prepared by coupling semiconducting composites, made of TiO2 and semiconducting materials (SnS2, BiVO4, and α-Fe2O3), and graphene oxide and its reduced form (GO/RGO). The NaSCEnT targets treatment of water polluted by pharmaceuticals. Their byproducts, low C-atom species, may mimic the role of lower C-atom alcohols, commonly used in H2 production in sole water splitting. The optimization and evaluation of solar/NCM system effectiveness, comprehending ecological, energetic and economic aspects will be performed integrating modeling and experimental approaches. The performance of NCM will be tailored through the planed design and development procedures. Fine tuning of the particular properties will be assisted by modeling at the molecular scale, thus minimizing the risk of the failure. The NaSCEnT results will address both water and energy fields and pave the way toward the application of innovative, clean and sustainable technologies.