A-LEAF, a full device for artificial photosynthesis

Date (23.05.2018)

The A-LEAF project aims to design, build and validate a novel photo-electro-catalytic (PEC) cell able to mimic the photosynthetic process as carried out by green plants. The objective is to achieve direct transformation of water and CO2, through the action of sunlight, into oxygen and organic matter (e.g. methanol, methane). The organic products will then be used as fuels, extracting their stored energy from their recombination with oxygen back to the original feedstock (water and CO2) in an environmentally neutral closed-cycle.

The Project was awarded €8m from the European Commission’s Future and Emerging Technologies programme. IMDEA Nanociencia is one of the 13 institutions that forms the consortium, and brings the expertise in surface science from the groups of Prof Rodolfo Miranda and Dr David Écija.

The project is already one year in - with three further years to complete the validation of a PEC cell prototype able to transform CO2 into added-value products in a sustainable and cost-efficient way to be transferred to European industry.

More information: http://www.a-leaf.eu/