Prof. Erwin Reisner

University of Cambridge (剑桥大学)

报告时间：2026 年 11 月 11 号（星期三）10:00-11:30

报告地点：张江校区 4 号楼 600 会议室

邀 请 人：潘林枫 长聘教轨副教授

Speaker Bio

Erwin Reisner is Professor of Energy and Sustainability at the University of Cambridge and holds a Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies. His research focuses on solar CO₂ utilisation, artificial photosynthesis, and sustainable fuel and chemical production. He has received several prestigious awards, including the Hughes Medal from the Royal Society (2023) and the Tilden Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry (2024). He is a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher and serves on the advisory boards of Angewandte Chemie, Chemical Science, and Accounts of Chemical Research. He is also co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Protonera.

Talk Abstract 

Artificial photosynthesis seeks to convert sunlight directly into sustainable fuels and chemicals. Moving beyond conventional solar water splitting, this lecture will highlight integrated systems combining semiconductor light absorbers with molecular and biological catalysts to drive CO₂fixation and water oxidation. It will then introduce solar reforming, an approach that replaces the challenging water oxidation reaction with the oxidation of biomass and plastic waste, enabling simultaneous clean fuel production and waste valorisation. Recent demonstrations of outdoor solar plastic reforming at kilogram and square-metre scales illustrate its potential for practical deployment. The lecture will also explore emerging directions in integrated solar chemistry, including atmospheric resource utilisation, advanced light management, and solar-powered cascade catalysis for selective organic synthesis. Together, these advances point towards scalable solar technologies that integrate carbon utilisation, waste upcycling, and renewable chemical manufacturing.