Time：10:00 - 11:30am, Oct.17th, 2025

Venue: Main building B-105, Xingqing Campus(主楼B-105)

Topic：Adding Value to Solar Hydrogen

Abstract：

Our society needs to move away from fossil fuels, and "green hydrogen"—a clean fuel that only produces water when used—is a promising candidate. But how can we produce it cheaply and efficiently? One exciting method is to use sunlight to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, much like how plants use photosynthesis. While this approach offers a promising path to a clean energy future, its economic viability still does not compete with fossil-based hydrogen generated from steam methane reforming. Our research tackles this problem from two angles. First, we are developing new, low-cost materials made from common elements—like bismuth vanadate and tin tungstate—that can effectively capture sunlight to split water. Second, we are designing devices that don't just make hydrogen, but immediately use it to create something else of value. In a recent experiment, we built a device that uses solar energy to produce hydrogen and then instantly uses that hydrogen to convert a common organic acid into a more valuable chemical used in manufacturing. This co-production strategy significantly enhances the system's overall value and efficiency. Our technoeconomic and lifecycle analyses confirm that this "value-added" approach presents a more compelling and sustainable pathway than conventional solar hydrogen alone. Finally, we will explore future directions, including expanding the range of possible chemical transformations to make solar-driven chemical manufacturing a tangible reality.

Speaker：

Fatwa F. Abdi

School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong

83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China

ffabdi@cityu.edu.hk

Short bio：

Fatwa F. Abdi is an Associate Professor in the School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK). He obtained his PhD (cum laude) in Chemical Engineering from TU Delft, the Netherlands, in 2013, where he was the recipient of the Martinus van Marum prize from the Royal Dutch Society of Sciences and Humanities. Prior to joining CityUHK in 2023, he was a group leader and the deputy head of Institute for Solar Fuels, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, Germany. His research group is interested in the development of materials and engineering of devices for solar-to-chemical conversion applications. His group focuses on complex metal oxides with activities spanning from investigating their fundamental material properties to implementing bulk and surface modification strategies to overcome their limitations. At the same time, his group utilizes the combination of multiphysics modeling and validation experiments to identify challenges associated with device engineering.