This page is the blog of the MFreePEC project (StG 2019), funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.
In this blog, we publish news related to the project, mainly the published peer-reviewed articles describing progress related to the project (Controlled Growth of Lightweight Metal-Free Materials for Photoelectrochemical Cells), led by Prof. Menny Shalom from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.
Also, see on X (Twitter) #MFreePEC from @at_bgu and @MichaelVolokh handles
(2024-07-22) Our robust CN-based panels, which exhibit good contact with the substrate can be used in flow-configuration to perform various photocatalytic reactions. See details in ACS Catalysis (ACS) [DOI: 10.1021/4c02349] Free access to the accepted version +SI via the 
Zenodo repository from July 2025.
(2024-07-01) Our latest article (#openacess) shows that fast heating at elevated temperatures allows the minute-scale synthesis of polymeric carbon nitride photoanodes with excellent activity over a wide pH range. See details in Small structures (Wiley) [DOI: 10.1002/sstr.202400123].
(2024-03-25) We performed CN-based PEC with concurrent HER and benzylamine oxidation or the more common OER (that is, water-splitting PEC). The efficiency stems from forming porous 1D structures with nitrogen defects. Check out the details in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A (RSC) [DOI: 10.1039/D4TA00237G] Free access to the accepted version +SI via the Zenodo repository from May 2025.
(2023-12-26) Closing 2023—our latest PEC with polymeric carbon nitride photoanodes. In this case, supramolecular aggregate formation at solvothermal conditions with KCl allows the growth of photoactive films with strong adhesion, stable activity, and low onset potentials. Now available (#openacess) at Advanced Sustainable Systems (Wiley) [DOI: 10.1002/adsu.202300447] (2023-08-24) Now online, we venture into the elucidation of the mechanism endowing highly-crystalline materials from the CN family, i.e., poly(heptazine imides), photocatalytic properties. Now in Energy Fuels (ACS) [DOI: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.3c02432Free access to the accepted version +SI via Zenodo repository from August 2024.
(2023-06-22) Exciting News! Our latest research on the successful doping of CN films with boron and sodium leads to enhanced photoactivity and photoelectrochemical water-splitting by forming an FTO/SnS2/CN(B) + Na+ heterostructure. Now online from Small (Wiley) (#openacess) [DOI: 10.1022/smll.202303602]
(2023-01-26) Using ethylene glycol as the medium in which supramolecular aggregation takes place allows us to make both CN-based heterogeneous photocatalysts and films for utilization as photoanodes in photoelectrochemical cells. [DOI: 10.10391/D3MH00016H] Free access to the accepted version +SI via Zenodo repository.
(2022-12-29) Now online, carbon-phosphorous-nitrogen materials as a support for Cu and Fe nanoparticles for successful carbon dioxide hydrogenation to methanol on the ACS website: [DOI: 10.1021/acsaem.2c03410] Free access to the accepted version +SI viaZenodo repository.
(2022-09-09) CN free-standing films were made by designing supramolecular hydrogels. Among the potential applications is water decontamination. Now online at Chemistry - A European Journal (Wiley); [DOI: 10.1022/chem.202201969] Free access to the accepted version +SI viaZenodo repository from July 2023.
(2022-07-25) We are happy to share an important advancement in using CN-based photoelectrochemical cells. Here, organic transformation (i.e., alcohol(s) oxidation to aldehydes and carboxylic acids) replaces water or sacrificial agents. In this way, stable hydrogen production is accompanied by valuable chemical synthesis and allows stable PEC operation without a co-catalyst! Available at the Journal of Materials Chemistry A (RSC) (#openacess) [DOI: 10.1039/d2ta03660f]
(2022-05-08) The first publication this year for PEC performance of photoanode prepared via carbon enrichment during the preparation of polymeric carbon nitride from supramolecular assemblies to achieve both high specific surface area and carbon-doping. You are welcome to read online and explore the structure-performance relations in photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical HER at Advanced Energy and Sustainability Research (Wiley) (#openacess) [DOI: 10.1002/aesr.202200035]
(2021-11-15) In our latest collaborative work, a designed supramolecular organization of a large molecule, melem, allows the synthesis of carbon nitride rods that exhibit very high photocatalytic performance towards both HER and CO2 reduction. See details online at Nanoscale (RSC);[DOI: 10.1039/D1NR06974H];
Free access to the accepted version +SI viathe Zenodo repository.
(2021-04-10) Excited to share this collaborative work where a high-performance water-splitting photoanode achieves reproducible long-term stability and high Faradaic efficiency. First successful co-catalyst incorporation onto optimized polymeric carbon nitride films! See details online at Advanced Functional Materials (Wiley);[DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202101724];
Free access to the accepted version +SI viathe Zenodo repository.
(2021-03-16) Our latest publication (#openacess) is online, dealing with different properties of carbon nitrides originating from different condensation pathways of isomers in a supramolecular aggregate. See Molecules (MDPI);.[DOI: 10.3390/molecules26061646]
(2021-02-18) We investigate and demonstrate the importance of good contact between a porous CN film a the substrate using ultrasonic spray-coating of a CN-seeding layer before growth. The method achieved excellent and robust contact. See the article published online: Advanced Sustainable Systems (Wiley)[DOI: 10.1002/adsu.202100005];
Free access to the accepted version +SI viathe Zenodo repository.
(2021-01-19) Opening 2021 with our latest work online (#openacess) at ACS Applied Energy Materials (ACS): studying the surface of alkali metals incorporation into CN materials via growth of single-crystals. See [http://doi.org/10.1021/acsaem.0c0964]
(2020-09-17) Just published in Nature Communications (Nature-Springer): CN photoanode formed from thiourea (and other) precursors, achieving extended optical absorption, hole extraction efficiency, and strong adhesion to the substrate. See [http://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18535-0] (#openacess) (2020-06-19) Just published in Chemistry of Materials (ACS): CN photoanode exhibiting a type-II heterostructure. See [https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.0c01856];
Free access to the accepted version +SI viathe Zenodo repository.
(2020-05-28) Our latest #review on carbon-related metal-free materials—focusing on the polymeric carbon nitrides (CN) family: the current status and prospects in potential applications—is finally online in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A (RSC). See https://doi.org/10.1039/d0ta01973 (#openacess)
(2020-05-26) Published in Sustainable Energy Fuels (RSC), using electrophoretic deposition (EPD) to form a seeding layer for CN. A milestone on the way toward the utilization of large metal-free polymeric electrodes for energy applications, PEC in this demonstration. See https://doi.org/10.1039/D0SE00752H;
Free access to the accepted version +SI viathe Zenodo repository.
(2020-05-14) Just published in Nano Letters (ACS): Excellent electron diffusion length and hole extraction properties of CN photoanode combining two complementary synthetic methods, resulting in ~270 µA cm–2 centimeter photocurrent density vs. RHE at a bias of 1.23 V in an alkaline environment. See https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c01484;
Free access to the accepted version +SI via the Zenodo repository.
(2020-04-16) A first peer-reviewed article published (already online) in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A (RSC) involving sequence-encoded properties in final metal-free lightweight materials (allowing, amongst others, achieving high heteroatom-content in carbon and nitrogen-based materials). Seehttps://doi.org/10.1039/D0TA03162C. Free access to the accepted version +SI via the Zenodo repository.
(2019-09-05) Happy to announce that the project focusing on metal-free photoelectrochemistry (#MFreePEC) led by Prof. Menny Shalom has been awarded the 2019 starting grant. We will update this page with news regarding the project's progress. OPEN TO THE WORLD: 51 NATIONALITIES AMONG WINNERS OF 2019 ERC STARTING GRANTS
