TU/e researchers Shuxia Tao and Nikolay Kosinov have received an ERC Consolidator Grant worth 2 million euros from the European Research Council (ERC). Tao will research the chirality of materials with perovskites, and Kosinov will dive into flexible carbon-based catalysts. We spoke to them about their plans to set up their new research areas at TU/e.
Shuxia Tao is a Professor of Computational Materials Physics at the Department of Applied Physics and Science Education, where she studies semiconductors such as perovskites. She became very well acquainted with this family of materials while researching novel materials for solar cells .
Mirror images
During Tao's research, she noted that many materials, both organic and inorganic, have chiral properties. Shuxia Tao explains: "Chirality refers to a property where objects are mirror images of each other but cannot be superimposed, like our left and right hands. This property is universal in nature, appearing in everything from twisting DNA to the spin of subatomic particles."
"Chiral perovskites are unique because they act as a bridge between organic and inorganic systems. They can incorporate organic chiral molecules into an inorganic lattice, which offers excellent optoelectronic properties. This combination creates a unique platform to study the intriguing properties of chirality in a highly controlled way," says Tao.
"When chiral systems interact with electron spin, a phenomenon called Chiral-Induced Spin Selectivity (CISS) results. This effect allows chiral molecules to filter electrons based on their spin. Electrons, acting like tiny magnets, can attract chiral molecules of a specific handedness if their spins are aligned."
"These phenomena have significant implications, ranging from more efficient electronics to safer drug design. Researchers have recently proposed that the CISS effect might explain why biological systems are inherently chiral."
A unified theory of chiral materials
Current models cannot accurately predict chiral material behavior. This is why Tao will study perovskites to create accurate theoretical models in a unified framework. This will help scientists from different fields, both in physics and in (bio)chemistry, to predict chiral (quantum) behavior quantitatively.
Tao: "If we can fully understand how chirality affects the behavior of perovskite, which is a material we know very well, we can apply these insights to many other materials. Our preliminary research, which we started two years ago, indicates we're on the right path."
"Chiral perovskites are incredibly versatile. We can enhance chirality and charge transfer by adjusting their dimensionality and chemical compositions, unlocking new physics and functionalities. As a result, these materials hold great promise."
"For the development of innovative optoelectronics as well as reshaping our understanding of chirality. Their potential impact extends to fields like renewable energy and drug design, and perhaps, they could even bring us closer to solving the mystery of the origins of life."
Flexible catalysts
Nikolay Kosinov , Professor of Molecular Heterogenous Catalysis at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, is also fascinated by the behavior of materials.
Catalysts, his subject of study, are currently present in all commercial chemical processing, such as the processing of fossil materials into chemicals, fuels, and plastics.
Kosinov explains: "The existing catalytic materials and processes are highly optimized for fossil feedstock. But, to transition to sustainable carbon sources such as biomass and CO2, we need novel catalysts."
Changing catalyst behavior with compression
Kosinov: "Efficient catalytic materials are essential for the sustainable energy transition. We have much to learn from Nature to design such materials, where bio-catalyst enzymes can perform many reactions that are virtually impossible for chemists to replicate yet."
"Enzymes operate by dynamically confining reactants and transition states during the reaction with high geometric and chemical precision. Currently, we can only partially mimic these abilities with inorganic catalysts, but I aim to bridge that gap with my research."
"I will be looking into soft and flexible carbon-based nanoporous catalysts, whose pores size can be controlled by simply compressing them. Our preliminary studies already show that we can influence the catalytic reactions taking place inside these catalysts by tuning their pore size."
"Master's student Ronald Smits, who was working with me on those initial studies, will stay on as a PhD researcher for the follow-up research. Additionally, I expect that new researchers will join us in the spring for our experimental program."
"I'm thrilled to see what we can learn from these materials and how we can use the obtained insights to improve chemical processing in the future."
