Harvesting sunlight to address energy and environmental challenges has been fascinating and long sought-after in building a sustainable society. One tangible example is the maintenance of cleaner indoor environment by degrading air pollutants via photocatalysis. The key to an efficient and effective photocatalytic process is the design and development of good photocatalysts which represents a hot research area. Dr. Jin Shang Group in School of Energy and Environment has contributed to this endeavour and some recent results were published as back cover in the Flagship journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry – Chemical Science. In an edge article entitled “Isocyanate Group-Functionalized Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-8 (ZIF-8) for Visible Light Photocatalytic Degradation of Gaseous Formaldehyde”, a facile thermal treatment strategy is initiated to convert one of the most well-known porous metal-organic framework, i.e., ZIF-8, to visible light driven photocatalyst exhibiting excellent performance in formaldehyde degradation. This strategy could unleash the potential of the design and development of MOF-based photocatalysts with broad-spectrum responses for efficient air purification operations. Given a myriad of porous MOFs created and documented by chemists in the past 30 years, this work may unlock a new toolbox for scientists and engineers in the field of photocatalysis to explore and develop next-generation photocatalysts.
Environmental scientists at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) have proposed a new pathway for the formation of sulfate, providing new insights for improving haze prediction to address air pollution problems.
Springer Nature recently published new journal, “Circular Economy and Sustainability”, to enhance the concerns on circular economy and sustainability issues in environmental research, and Dr Liang Dong is appointed as the editorial board member (associate editors). The journal aims to bring a new approach of the key concepts of circular economy and sustainability, by combining the scientific disciplines of economy, management, engineering, technology, environment, and society. The editorial team include the world-famous scholars in the field, mainly from Europe and USA, Dr Dong is one of the four scholars from Mainland China and Hong Kong, together with Prof. Yong Geng from Shanghai Jiaotong University, Prof. Zengwei Yuan from Nanjing University, and Prof. Kee-hung LAI from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the Dutch Research Council (NWO) have jointly awarded a major grant to an international consortium, headed by the Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) in The Netherlands, and Peking University (PKU) in China, for collaborative research on sustainable, inclusive cities. Besides the EUR and PKU, the consortium consists of Delft University of Technology and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) in The Netherlands and, City University of Hong Kong (Dr. Dong's team) and Tongji University in China.
Energy conversion is an essential topic in energy and environmental research. The conversion efficiency and device’s stability are the most significant concerns for sustainable development.
Dr. Denis Yu, SEE Associate Professor, was interviewed by SCMP on 21 Feb 2020 on how to charge the cell phones in order to optimise the battery's lifespan.
Dr. Wei Wu, our Assistant Professor, has recently won the IIR (International Institute of Refrigeration) Young Researcher Award, the highest award for young researchers in the HVAC area.
