Visible light powers biological photosynthesis of organic molecules in nature. Taking inspiration from nature, in 1912 Giacomo Ciamician disclosed his vision to harness visible light for the articificial chemical photosynthesis of molecules. Since the turn of the 21st century, chemists have made great efforts to synthesize high-value organic molecules (medicines, functional materials) using catalysts activated by visible light. However, the scope of applications has been limited by typical photocatalysts being unable to harness the full energy of a visible photon. While nature overcomes this issue by combining multiple photon energies, such a concept has not seen general applications in synthesis.

Dr. Barham’s research focusses on combining electrical energy with photonic energy to break previous limitations and achieve new frontiers in ‘photoelectrochemical’ synthesis of molecules.