Abstract

A Conceptually New Photomicroreactor Design for Energy-efficient Solar Photochemistry

Timothy Noël, Professor, University of Amsterdam

The use of solar light to promote chemical reactions holds significant potential with regard to sustainable energy solutions. While the number of visible light-induced transformations has increased significantly, the use of abundant solar light has been extremely limited. We report a leaf-inspired photomicroreactor that constitutes a merger between luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) and flow photochemistry to enable green and efficient reactions powered by solar irradiation. This device based on fluorescent dye-embedded polydimethylsiloxane collects sunlight, focuses the energy to a narrow wavelength region, and then transports that energy to embedded microchannels where the flowing reactants are converted. The performance of the device was studied both in indoor and outdoor conditions, significantly outperforming the non-dye-doped device. We believe that our strategy to merge flow photochemistry and luminescent solar concentrators represents a departure from the use of traditional solar photoreactors combined with reflectors, photovoltaic cells and solar tracking modules.