Rudolf Ricka from the Institute of Environmental Technology (IET) at the Centre for Energy and Environmental Technologies of VSB-TUO focused on developing photocatalytically active materials, particularly for the photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide, during an internship at the partner University of Trieste within the international SAN4Fuel project. He plans to use some of the findings in an upcoming publication and has already presented them at the SP9 – 9th International Conference on Semiconductor Photochemistry held in Madrid, Spain, this September.
As a member of the SAN4Fuel team, Ricka mainly investigates materials suitable for photocatalytic CO₂ reduction. His work covers their preparation, evaluation of photocatalytic activity, analysis of physicochemical properties, and—importantly—their role in the reaction mechanism. He pursued the topic during his stay in Trieste, working under the supervision of Michele Melchionna and Paolo Fornasiero, both members of the SAN4Fuel consortium.
“Under their expert guidance, I prepared photocatalytically active materials that we will now test in our heterogeneous photocatalysis laboratory at the Institute of Environmental Technology. Specifically, I worked on the synthesis of carbon nitride-based photocatalysts, which we further modified and coated with individual metal atoms—cobalt, palladium, molybdenum, and nickel—using single-atom engineering. The internship helped me significantly expand my knowledge in materials engineering, from advanced synthesis techniques to subsequent characterisation using state-of-the-art analytical methods. Collaborating with these experts was an invaluable experience,” said Ricka.
Together with his Trieste colleagues, his supervisor Kamila Kočí, and collaborators from the Olomouc branch of the project team, the doctoral student is now writing an article focused on the effect of amorphous domains and immobilised cobalt sites in carbon nitride-based photocatalysts on carbon dioxide photoreduction.
“Thanks to the larger number of samples prepared, we also see potential for further publications and ongoing collaboration with colleagues from the mentioned institutions,” he added.
Ricka also presented his current research at the conference in Madrid with a talk entitled Amorphous domains and metal sites in graphitic carbon nitride for CO₂ photoreduction. “After the presentation, I received mostly positive feedback—not only from colleagues from Czech institutions but also from experts from France and Spain,” he concluded.
