Zhang, Jin (The University of Western Ontario)

Purpose

The lesson we learnt in the petroleum era is: global economy cannot be sustainably prosperous without balancing the high demand in energy resource and the serious environmental issue. According to the solar market research and analysis, the photovoltaic solar (PV) industry created $38.5 billion in revenues globally in 2009. The market size of solar energy increases with the rate of 30% annually. Great efforts have been attempted for utilizing solar energy and minimizing and avoiding the CO2 emission in the world for a decade. Is it possible to develop a device to be able to solve two challenges? The goal of this project is to work with Saint Jean Carbon Inc. (SJC) to develop carbon-based quantum dots (C-dots) for multi-applications, especially in photo-induced electron transfer devices and CO2 capture. In this two-year collaborative research project, first we will develop a time-efficient process to produce C-dots-based nanosystems with tunable optical properties; and to incorporate C-dots onto ZnO nanorods for harvesting solar energy to obtain efficient photoinduced electron transfer. In addition, this project will design and develop a suitable surface modification to conjugate enayme on the C-dots-based nanosystem for efficient CO2 capture. This project by applying nanomaterials and biomaterials aims at developing a high efficient PV device with the capacity for CO2 capture. Two trainees will be involved in this project to gain the knowledge and skills on development of nanomaterials and environmentally-friendly devices. The successful research project will help Canadian companies to open up more potential areas of applications, to broaden the horizon of carbon-based products, and to boost Canadian Eco-friendly economy._x000D_