Ludovic Troian-GAUTIER (PI – Spokesperson) - UCLouvain
Our proposed research places renewable energy at the forefront and tackles contemporary issues faced by society. We aim to use sunlight to generate “solar fuels” through challenging reactions as well as for the synthesis of compounds with added value, both in solution and at the metal oxide interface. We are interested in understanding key fundamental processes that govern excited-state reactivity. The pluridisciplinary approach developed in our laboratory, and through very fruitful collaborations, calls upon (in)organic synthesis, (spectro)electrochemistry, photochemistry and (nano)material design.
Our research is distributed among several axis:
- Understanding factors governing excited state reactivity and charge separation.
- Light-induced solar fuels production
- Mechanistic photoredox catalysis using rare and earth abundant transition metal complexes and organic dyes.
The research group is currently composed of 2 postdoctoral researchers, 4 PhD students and one part time laboratory technician.
Benjamin Elias (Co-PI) - UCLouvain
The current interests of our research lab deal with several aspects of light induced processes, from a fundamental point of view to more applied research. These include light-induced solar fuels production (hydrogen photoproduction, HX and water photo-splitting, CO2 reduction), new innovative theranostic approaches in anti-cancer therapy (photodynamic therapy on hypoxic tumor), photo-probing of specific DNA topologies (G-quadruplexes, quadruple helices, telomere recognition and telomerase inhibition) and photocatalytic processes involving multinuclear transition metal complexes.
The research group is currently composed of 8 PhD students, 2 master students and one part time laboratory technician.
Yoann Olivier (Co-PI) - UNamur
The research in our group deals with the characterization of the optoelectronic properties taking place in organic pi-cojugated small molecules and polymers using classical and quantum computational methods. More specifically, we are interested in the capability of these materials to conduct electrons, absorb and emit light in energy (organic light-emitting diodes, organic solar cells, organic field-effect transistors and betteries) and photochemistry (production of solar fuels) applications as well as establishing design rules for materials with improved features.
The research group is currently composed of 3 postdoctoral researchers and 5 PhD students.