Webinar title: Photo-(Electro) Catalysis as a Technological Solution for Sustainable Environment
Speaker: Wonyong Choi
Webinar time: May 20, 2024 (Monday) 14:00
Venue: Room 200, New Environmental Building
Inviter: Xufang Qian
Abstract:
With solar energy as the main driver of the global cycles of key elements such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen, photo-(electro) catalysis can be an ideal engineering approach to mimic and restore the elemental cycles in nature while addressing the problem of fossil fuels and over-consumption of resources. Photochemical conversion of H2O, CO2, N2 and O2 has been well studied, with photo-(electro) catalysis using semiconductor materials being the most popular method. Several cases of photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical conversion of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen compounds will be presented to explore their environmental impacts. The application of photo-(electro) catalytic systems in denitrification and nitrogen fixation reactions, as well as engineered systems to achieve selective interconversion of nitrogen-containing pollutants are discussed. In addition, cases of O2 reduction for H2O2 production by photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical systems and a unique example of the use of heteronuclear diatomic-site catalysts to control the conversion of CO2 to produce HCHO are presented. These technologies are expected to provide important solutions for environmental protection and sustainable development.
About the speaker:
Wonyong Choi, director of Center for Environmental and Climate Technology, Korea Institute of Energy Technology (KENTECH), focus on semiconductor photo-(electro) catalysis and photochemistry for solar energy conversion and environmental applications. He received B.S. from Seoul National University in 1988 and Ph.D. from CALTECH in 1996. Then, he worked at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a postdoctoral scholar. He joined the faculty of POSTECH in 1998. In 2022, he moved to Korea Institute of Energy Technology (KENTECH) to establish Center for Environmental and Climate Technology as an inaugural director. He was elected as Fellow of Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST, 2014) and National Academy of Engineering of Korea (NAEK, 2023), and International member of U.S. NAE in 2024. He received Young Scientist Award (KAST) in 2005, KAST Science and Technology Award in 2015, and Korea Engineering Award in 2018. He has been selected as Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate Analytics in 2019-2023. He is currently serving as an editor-in-chief of ACS ES&T Engineering and on the editorial advisory board of Nature Sustainability, and Energy & Environmental Science.