The third Molecules and Materials for Artificial Photosynthesis Conference focused on new developments in the areas of solar to fuel conversion and related molecular and material systems that have been attracting increasing attention such as new molecular catalysts based on transition metal complexes, organ-metal perovskites, plasmonic metal structures, semiconductor quantum dots, and catalysts based on metal or metal oxides. The meeting brought together experts in materials chemistry, physical chemistry, computational chemistry, materials science and engineering, physics, catalysis, spectroscopy. We saw more work at the interface between molecular systems and solid state systems in this meeting than in the two previous meetings, which is encouraging and fits the mission of the meeting well.

The meeting was chaired by Antoni Llobet (ICIQ, Spain) and Jin Zhang (UCSC, USA).

The first day focused on materials and fundamental issues related to light-matter interaction and some fundamental photophysical issues.  The meeting was kicked off by keynote speaker, Prof. Dirk Guldi from The Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Numberg, on the topic of molecular singlest fission in pentacene materials.  His talk was followed by invited talks by Dennis Friedrich from Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin, Victor Batista from Yale University, Yuan Ping from UCSC, Dongling Ma from INRS, Menny Shalom from Ben-Gurion University of Negev, Jason Cooper from LBNL, Coleman Kronawitter from UC Davis, Jungki Ryu from UNIST, Yung-Jung Hsu from National Chiao Tung University, Lichang Wang from SIU, and Tanja Cuk from UC Berkeley.  There is a good mix between experiment and theoretical work presented.

The second day focused on water splitting with the first keynote talk given by Prof. Kirk Schanze from UT San Antonio on chromophore-catalyst assemblies for solar fuels.  His talk was followed by invited talks given by Filippo De Angelis from CNR-ISTM, Greta Patzke from University of Zurich, Molly MacInnes from University of Michigan, Chris Barrett from McGill University, Daniel Strongin from Temple University, Mariachiara Pastore from CNRS, Say Ghosh from UC Merced, Gary Brudvig from Yale University, Albert Poater from University de Girona, Shuang Xiao from the Hong Kong UST, Kazuhiro Takanabe from JAUST, Craig Hill from Emory University, Ting-Hsuan Lai from National Chiao Tung University, and Xiaojun Lv from Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, China.

The first and second sessions of day three on CO2 conversion started with the keynote lecture by Osamu Ishitani from Tokyo Institute of Technology on photocatalytic CO2 conversion.  This is followed by presentations from Victor de la Pena from IMDEA, Elizabeth Papish from the University of Alabama, Qingfeng Ge from SIU, Tong-Bu Lu from Sun Yat-Sen University, Felix Schneck from Georg-August-University Goettingen, Heinz Frei (keynote) from LBNL, James Muckerman from BNL, Takahiko Kojima from the University of Tsukuba, and Connie Lu from University of Minnesota.

The third session of day three focused on N2 fixation and conversion with presentations from Karen Mulfort from ANL, Xuan Zhao from University of Memphis, Etsuko Fujita from BNL, Sven Schneider from University of Gottingen, and Sebastian Sprick from University of Liverpool.

The morning sessions on day four started with a keynote presentation by Ron Naaman from Weizmann Institute of Science on the role of the electron spin polarization in water splitting.  His talk was followed by presentations by Jin Zhang from UCSC, Fabio Di Fonzo from Instituto Italiano di Technologia, Lionel Vayssieres from Xi-an Jiaotong University, Idan Hod from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Gary Moore from ASU, and Philippe Schild from the European Commission.  Philippe spoke about mission innovation change converting sunlight from the perspective of the European Union.

Three poster presentations were given and all received poster awards: Hiroki Koizumi, Keisuke Obata, and Muhammad Qureshi. The Royal Society of Chemistry and Fusion Conferences kindly sponsored the poster prizes. In addition, four awards were given to short talk speakers.

The meeting was highly interactive with enthusiastic question and answer sessions following each talk. In particular, there was good interaction among researchers including younger faculty, postdocs, and graduate students. There is a good feel if diversity in the attendees and topics presented, still with a unifying theme in relation to the conference topic of focus.  This meeting remains unique with respect to the breadth of participants and focus on new approaches to artificial photosynthesis.

We would like to thank our sponsors and media partners: the Royal Society of Chemistry and their following journals; Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences, Molecular Systems Design & Engineering, Sustainable Energy & Fuels, Energy & Environmental Science and the Journal of Material Chemistry A and the International Society of Photosynthesis Research.

The replacement of fossil fuels by a clean and renewable energy source is one of the most urgent and challenging issues our society is facing today, which is why intense research is devoted to this topic recently. Nature has been using sunlight as the primary energy input to oxidize water and generate carbohydrates (a solar fuel) for over a billion years. Inspired, but not constrained, by nature, artificial systems can be designed to capture light and oxidize water and reduce protons or other organic compounds to generate useful chemical fuels. Significant progress has been made recently in artificial photosynthesis based on molecular chemistry and material science.  However, developments in these two areas have occurred more independently than what is perhaps desired. In the present meeting, we will bring together researchers in these two scientific communities to explore possible synergistic effects of “fusion” between molecular and materials systems.

Key Sessions

1. fundamentals of light capturing and conversion
2. water oxidation catalysis
3. proton and CO₂ reduction catalysis
4. interfacing molecules and materials for photosynthesis
5. complete cells for the generation of solar fuels

Target Audience

This conference will appeal to researchers from both molecular and materials communities interested in the latest findings for artificial photosynthesis. We expect to see attandance from Professors, Postdocs and Graduate Students from across these disciplines.

Learning Objectives

To exchange ideas and get updated on the state-of-the art of the field of artificial photosynthesis based on molecular and bulk as well as nanostructured materials.

Student Bursaries Available!

We have $800 student awards available. Please submit an abstract via email (admin@fusion-conferences.com), for short-talk or poster consideration, before November 30th. The chairs will select the successful students shortly after this date.   

2018 MMAP Poster & Oral Presentation Prizes

The conference chairs will be awarding 3 poster cash prizes and 3 oral presentation cash prizes at the meeting. To be in with a chance of winning, please submit your abstract before the appliciable deadlines.

Student Offer

Take advantage of this fantastic opportunity for students! Register an academic at the standard rate of $1,798 and bring a student for only $745. Unfortunately, Postdocs are not eligible. Both registration packages include; accommodation for the 02, 03, 04 March 2018 (on a shared basis for students, note guest rooms are open plan) and a 24hour all-inclusive food and beverage package for the conference period. Once registered, please contact Jack Peters (jack@fusion-conferences.com) to obtain a special registration link for your student.

Confirmed Plenary Speakers

Heinz Frei (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
HIERARCHICAL NANOSCALE ASSEMBLIES FOR THE PHOTOCATALYTIC REDUCTION OF CO₂ BY H₂O
Dirk Guldi (Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg)
MOLECULAR SINGLET FISSION IN PENTACENE MATERIALS
Osamu Ishitani (Tokyo Institute of Technology)
PHOTOCATALYTIC CO2 REDUCTION
Ron Naaman (Weizmann Institute of Science)
THE ROLE OF THE ELECTRON SPIN POLARIZATION IN WATER SPLITTING
Kirk Schanze (University of Texas at San Antonio)
CHROMOPHORE-CATALYST ASSEMBLIES FOR SOLAR FUELS
Fuxiang Zhang (Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics)
SOLAR OVERALL WATER SPLITTING TO PRODUCE HYDROGEN USING POWDER PHOTOCATALYSTS

Confirmed Invited Speakers

Victor Batista (Yale University)
Gary Brudvig (Yale University)
MOLECULAR CATALYSTS FOR WATER OXIDATION
Neelu Chouhan (University of Kota)
Jason Cooper (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
NEW PERSPECTIVES ON THE TRANSIENT ABSORPTION SPECTRUM OF MATERIALS
Tanja Cuk (UC Berkeley)
OBSERVING THE MOLECULAR AND DYNAMIC PATHWAY OF WATER OXIDATION AT SURFACES
Filippo De Angelis (CNR-ISTM)
ORIGIN OF HIGH OPEN CIRCUIT VOLTAGE IN METAL-HALIDE PEROVSKITE SOLAR CELLS EMPLOYED IN PV-DRIVEN WATER SPLITTING
Victor de la Pena (IMDEA)
NEW ADVANCES IN CO2 PHOTOREDUCTION VI ARTIFICIAL PHOTOSYNTHESIS
Fabio Di Fonzo (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia)
Dennis Friedrich (Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin)
CHARGE CARRIER DYNAMICS IN METAL OXIDES ABSORBERS FOR SOLAR FUEL PRODUCTION
Etsuko Fujita (Brookhaven National Laboratory)
HYDROGEN PRODUCTION AND STORAGE
Qingfeng Ge (Southern Illinois University)
TURNING THE OXYGEN AFFINITY FOR SELECTIVE ELECTROCHEMICAL REDUCTION OF CO2
Sayantani Ghosh (UC Merced)
PHOTOCATALYTIC WATER-SPLITTING DRIVEN BY PLASMONIC INTERACTIONS IN N-TYPE LOW DIMENSIONAL SEMICONDUCTORS INTERFACED WITH METALLIC NANOPARTICLES
Craig Hill (Emory University)
Idan Hod (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)
Yung-Jung Hsu (National Chiao Tung University)
SEMICONDUCTOR NANOHETEROSTRUCTURES FOR PHOTOCONVERSION APPLICATIONS
Takahiko Kojima (The University of Tsukuba, Japan)
PHOTOCATALYTIC CO2 REDUCTION AND H2 EVOLUTION USING Ni(II) COMPLEXES AS CATALYSTS
Coleman Kronawitter (University of California, Davis)
Connie Lu (University of Minnesota)
INNOVATING BIMETALLIC ACTIVE SITES FOR SMALL-MOLECULE CATALYSIS
Tong-Bu Lu (Sun Yat-Sen University)
SYNTHESIS, STRUCTURE AND WATER SPLITTING PROPERTIES BASED ON GRAPHDIYNE MATERIAL
Xiaojun Lv (Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry)
ENHANCED WATER SPLITTING ACTIVITY USING THE NOBLE METAL FREE CATALYSTS
Dongling Ma (Institut national de la recherche scientifique)
Gary Moore (Arizona State University)
MOLECULAR SURFACE COATINGS FOR APPLICATIONS IN ARTIFICIAL PHOTOSYNTHESIS
James Muckerman (Brookhaven National Laboratory)
DEVELOPMENT OF A DFT MODEL OF THE MECHANISM OF SYNGAS PRODUCTION BY [Ru(tpy)(Mebim-py)(OH₂)]²⁺ (tpy = 2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine; Mebim-py = 3-methyl-1-pyridyl-benzimidazol-2-ylidene) IN WATER
Karen Mulfort (Argonne National Laboratory)
MECHANISTIC INSIGHT INTO H₂ PHOTOCATALYSIS BY A MOLECULAR COBALT MACROCYCLE
Elizabeth Papish (The University of Alabama)
CARBON DIOXIDE REDUCTION USING EARTH ABUNDANT METALS AND PROTON RESPONSIVE PYRIDINOL BASED PINCER LIGANDS
Mariachiara Pastore (Université de Lorraine & CNRS)
FIRST PRINCIPLE MODELING OF MATERIALS AND INTERFACES FOR SOLAR WATER SPLITTING
Greta Ricarda Patzke (University of Zurich)
COBALT-BASED CUBANE WATER OXIDATION CATALYSTS WITH EDGE-SITE MOTIFS: BRINDGING THE GAP BETWEEN MOLECULAR AND HETEROGENEOUS CATALYSIS)
Yuan Ping (UC Santa Cruz)
LIGHT ABSORBERS, INTERFACES AND CATALYSTS FOR SOLAR-TO-FUEL CONVERSION: FIRST-PRINCIPLES CALCULATIONS
Albert Poater (Universitat de Girona)
HOW THE O-O BOND FORMATION TAKES PLACES IN HOMOGENEOUS WOC
Jungki Ryu (UNIST)
MODULAR PHOTOELECTROCHEMICAL DEVICES FOR SOLAR-TO-CHEMICAL CONVERSION
Philippe Schild (European Commission)
MISSION INNOVATION CHALLENGE CONVERTING SUNLIGHT: THE WAY FORWARD FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION PERSPECTIVE
Sven Schneider (University of Göttingen)
CHEMICAL TRANSFORMATIONS OF N₂
Menny Shalom (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)
GRAPHITIC CARBON NITRIDE LAYERS AS LIGHT-HARVESTING SEMICONDUCTORS FOR PHOTOELECTROCHEMICAL CELLS
Daniel Strongin (Temple University)
THEORY AND COMPUTATION WORKING WITH EXPERIMENT TO UNDERSTAND AND IMPROVE WATER SPLITTING CATALYSIS
Kazuhiro Takanabe (KAUST)
Lionel Vayssieres (Xi’an Jiaotong University, China)
ON THE STABILITY & PERFORMANCE OF LOW-COST DEVICES FOR SOLAR HYDROGEN GENERATION
Lichang Wang (Southern Illinois University)
UNDERSTANDING AND DESIGNING WANNIER EXCITONS IN ORGANIC MOLECULES
Shuang Xiao (Hong Kong University)
NANOMATERIAL STRUCTURES AND INTERFACES FOR SOLAR FUEL PRODUCTION
Xuan Zhao (University of Memphis)
ELECTRONIC AND STERIC EFFECTS ON CATALYTIC H2 PRODUCTION BY COBALT COMPLEXES WITH PENTADENTATE LIGANDS