The project ‘Magic-size ZnTe nanoclusters: a platform for high-efficiency chemical reduction’ will be carried out at the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology of the Krakow University of Technology (PK) under the direction of Professor Katarzyna Matras-Postołek in partnership with the FH Münster University of AppliedSciences. The project has been awarded funding of nearly PLN 2 million under the OPUS 22 + LAP/Weave competition.

The project, led by PK, addresses one of the greatest contemporary challenges in the fight to halt the climate crisis – reducing carbon dioxide emissions from energy processes.

This necessitates the search for alternatives – to the natural process of photosynthesis – to reduce CO2 concentrations. One of these may be to find a catalyst that, using solar radiation, will reduce carbon dioxide to simple chemical compounds. “We will work on developing a substance that will accelerate the course of such a chemical reaction in our project”, says Dr Katarzyna Matras-Postołek.