Irish scientist gets EUR-1.5m grant for solar research

An electrochemist at the University of Limerick has received a EUR-1.5-million (USD 1.7m) European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant for his work on liquid-liquid interfaces for solar energy conversion.

“The liquid-liquid interfaces I use have the fantastic ability to trap and bring molecules together, especially molecules that are similar to chlorophyll. By coating these interfaces in all sorts of light-harvesting molecules I can create an artificial photosynthetic membrane capable of producing energy,” Dr Micheal Scanlon explains.

His immediate goal is to study the interaction of light with the artificial photosynthetic membranes. In contrast to the common solar power technologies, Scanlon's approach is less toxic and the processes involving liquids can be easily scaled up.

Work on the project takes place in the Bernal Institute and the Department of Chemical Sciences at the University of Limerick. The plan is to develop a new method for the production of clean electricity or solar fuels, such as hydrogen.

Scanlon is one of only three Irish based researchers to get ERC Starting Grants in 2017.

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