Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

The most efficient catalytic reactions are observed in vivo, in enzyme catalysed reactions. Developing biomimetic systems reproducing the physical properties and function of their biological counterpart while improving the stability under a variety of environmental conditions would open numerous applications specifically in the field of renewable energy production. This research proposal aims at understanding the physical nature of the effect of confinement in nanoarchitectures and develop mimic of bioreactors combining the efficiency of the metal nanoclusters as catalyst to the enhanced reactivity due to confinement. This characterization will be followed by the development of tailored unsupported nanoreactors in aqueous environment for applications in fuel cell technology, improving the access of the reactants to the highly active Pt nanocatalysts and artificial photosynthesis with an array of nanoreactors capable of efficient adsorption of the broad range of wavelength of the solar spectrum. The insight gained during this study will not only have a significant impact on the environmentally friendly synthesis of artificial catalysts and their applications but as a model system it will also provide invaluable information on individual factors influencing the efficiency of biological systems inaccessible in vivo.