Center of Artificial Photosynthesis for Solar Fuels

(CAP for Solar Fuels @Westlake)

Director：Licheng Sun

The Center of Artificial Photosynthesis for Solar Fuels at Westlake University (CAP for Solar Fuels @Westlake) is a newly established research center dedicated to overcoming the challenges associated with solar energy utilization and storage. The director of the center is Prof. Licheng SUN, a foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, an academician of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA), an expert in the field of artificial photosynthesis, and a chair professor of physical chemistry in the School of Science at betway必威棋牌登录

The researches in CAP for Solar Fuels @ Westlake mainly focus on the design of the state-of-the-art catalysts and devices to achieve efficient water splitting for hydrogen production, solar-driven CO₂and N₂reductions to produce fuels, ammonia and value-added chemicals, water as oxygen and hydrogen sources for solar-driven oxidation and reduction of organic substrates to prepare fine chemicals, the coupling of new generation solar cells and key catalysts/electrodes, the development of novel light-harvesting semiconductor materials and photoanodes/photocathodes, unraveling water oxidation mechanism on natural photosynthesis oxygen-releasing enzyme and artificial intelligence aided material design. The mission of CAP for Solar Fuels @ Westlake is to provide multiple-scale understandings of chemical processes at complex solid-gas, gas-liquid and solid-liquid interfaces, and eventually design the state-of-the-art materials to achieve high-efficient solar energy conversion for renewable fuels and value-added chemicals.

Institute for Theoretical Sciences

Director: Gang Tian

The Institute for Theoretical Sciences was inaugurated at Westlake University on September 24^th, 2020. Professor Gang Tian was appointed to be the founding director. The institute aims to marshal talent around the globe and pioneer in theoretical research in a range of fundamental disciplines, including mathematics, theoretical physics, etc. The institute also carries out scientific research plan, project research, discipline construction and other related work independently.

International Center for Polaritonics    https://icp.westlake.edu.cn/index.htm

Director: Alexey Kavokin

The International Center for Polaritonics is designed as a world-leading research center that combines the expertise and resources of three major research groups: The Quantum Optoelectronics group headed by Dr. Pavlos Savvidis, the Carbyne Laboratory headed by Dr. Stella Kutrovskaya, and the Theory group headed by Professor Alexey Kavokin who also provides the overall leadership and strategic planning.

The Center will produce low-dimensional multilayer semiconductor structures for the research and applications in Polaritonics: the physics of strongly coupled light-matter systems. The crystal growth facilities will include the molecular beam epitaxy and chemical vapor deposition reactors as well as the laser ablation technology. The original semiconductor structures will be characterized by means of the ultrafast optical spectroscopy with high spatial resolution. The optical experiments will be performed at the liquid Helium temperature and in the presence of magnetic fields up to 7T. The anticipated results will include polariton lasing and superfluidity, polariton simulators, polariton based sources of non-classical light, polariton-induced superconductivity. The theoretical group will contribute to the design of new structures, modelling of their quantum optical properties, development of new device concepts. The theory-experiment cooperation will be conducted on an everyday basis with regular feedbacks from modelling to the experiment and vice-versa. The Center will serve as a platform for a wide-scale international cooperation. Every year it will host tens of scientists coming from the world-leading universities of the USA, EU, Russia and Asia. The Center will host international research meetings, conferences and schools.