Storing Solar Energy in Chemical Bonds: From Theory and Catalysis to Devices and Engineering

Harnessing sunlight to drive the synthesis of molecular fuels and chemical feedstocks – artificial photosynthesis – has enormous potential as a scalable approach for reducing our dependence on fossil fuel resources. Research in this field has greatly accelerated since the start of the Gordon Research Conference series on "Renewable Energy: Solar Fuels" in 2007, for example in the areas of light absorbers and catalysts for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen, and reducing carbon dioxide to carbon based fuels. The 2018 GRC conference will explore the latest progress in meeting this challenge, reporting both state of the art materials, catalyst and system performance, and discussing advances in our understanding of their function. It will include sessions focused on molecular and inorganic catalysts, biohybrid systems and lessons to be learnt from biological catalysis, on new light absorbers and photocatalysts, on integration into photoelectrochemical devices and on the engineering and systems level challenges required to develop viable technologies. The Conference will bring together young and established investigators who are at the forefront of their fields to explore these interdisciplinary themes. Participants, including students and postdocs, are encouraged to present their results in poster sessions, and some poster presenters will be selected for short talks. The collegial atmosphere of this Conference, with programmed discussion sessions and informal gatherings in the afternoons and evenings, provides a unique international forum in which the academic and industrial scientists can exchange ideas to advance the field of renewable energy.