Dr Sebastian Sprick

Chancellor'S Fellow - Senior Lecturer

Pure and Applied Chemistry

Personal statement

I obtained my PhD in 2013 from The University of Manchester under the supervision of Prof. Michael Turner working on N-heterocyclic palladium carbene catalysts for polytriarylamine synthesis. After this I moved to the University of Liverpool working with Prof. Andrew Cooper as a postdoctoral research associate on soluble conjugated microporous polymers (C-PIMs) and water splitting using conjugated microporous polymers as photocatalysts. In 2015 started my new role as a Research Lead within the group leading the photocatalysis research. In 2020 I started my independent career as a Strathclyde Chancellor’s Fellow.

Expertise

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Prize And Awards

Frontiers of Science Award: Recipient; 15/7/2025
Faculty of Science Teaching Excellence Award: Recipient; 12/9/2024
UK & Ireland Green Gown Award 2022: Recipient; 8/11/2022
Fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA): Recipient; 8/9/2022

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Publications

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Publications

Sulfone-decorated hypercrosslinked polymers for sacrificial light-driven hydrogen evolution from water: Schweng Paul, Eder Dominik, Sprick Reiner Sebastian, Cherevan Alexey, Woodward Robert T; Journal of Materials Chemistry A (2026); https://doi.org/10.1039/D6TA01673A
Heteroatom-fused tetraphenylethylene-based conjugated microporous polymers for sacrificial photocatalytic H2O2 production: Luo Zhipeng, Bourhill Rhys J, Zhang Fengtao, Xiong Yujing, Zheng Weimin, Chen Xiong, Sprick Reiner Sebastian; Science China Materials (2026); https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-026-4111-4
Organic materials for biohybrid photocatalysis and photoelectrochemical devices: Pavliuk Mariia V, Cai Bin, Kurth Larissa, Sprick Reiner Sebastian, Berggren Gustav, Tian Haining; Chemical Reviews Vol 126, pp. 5877–5919 (2026); https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.5c00946
Backbone heterojunction photocatalysts for efficient sacrificial hydrogen production: Lyons Richard J, Bourhill Rhys J, McQueen Ewan, Harding Sam D, Pawlak Krzysztof, Fellowes Thomas, Capps Harry W, Cowan Alexander J, Cooper Andrew I, Gardner Adrian M, Zwijnenburg Martijn A, Sprick Reiner Sebastian; Advanced Functional Materials Vol 36 (2026); https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202513025
Engineering Microbe-Material Interface to produce Solar Chemicals and Fuels from CO2: Rishan Muhammed, Kalathil Shafeer, Sebastian Sprick Reiner, Gibson Elizabeth A; MATSUS Spring 2026 (2025); https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.matsusspring.2026.420
Introduction to the metal-free photo/electrocatalysts for sustainable energy solutions themed collection: Sebastian Sprick Reiner, Shalom Menny, Wang Xinchen; Sustainable Energy & Fuels Vol 9, pp. 4773-4774 (2025); https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SE90058A

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Research

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Research Interests

The goal of my group is to address challenges in sustainability. In particular we are aiming to make so-called ‘solar fuels’ (e.g. hydrogen and carbon monoxide) only using renewable resources and sunlight. For this we make organic materials that act as photocatalysts to drive reactions, such as water splitting and carbon dioxide reduction. We utilise a range of different materials, such as small oligomers, polymers, conjugated microporous polymers and conjugated organic frameworks. The modularity and structural diversity of the available building blocks allows for excellent fine tuning of the properties of these organic materials thus optimising their performance. Finally, we are interested in large scale application and working towards making demonstrator devices.

Professional Activities

Invited seminar: “Conjugated polymers for photocatalytic hydrogen production and carbon dioxide reduction” R. S. Sprick, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, P. R. China: Speaker; 18/5/2026
Invited seminar: “Conjugated polymers for photocatalytic hydrogen production and carbon dioxide reduction” R. S. Sprick, Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, P. R. China: Speaker; 18/5/2026
Invited seminar: “Conjugated polymers for photocatalytic hydrogen production and carbon dioxide reduction” R. S. Sprick, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Guangzhou, Guangzhou, P. R. China: Speaker; 17/5/2026
Invited seminar: “Conjugated polymers for photocatalytic hydrogen production and carbon dioxide reduction” R. S. Sprick, College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, P. R. China: Speaker; 15/5/2026
Invited seminar: “Conjugated polymers for photocatalytic hydrogen production and carbon dioxide reduction” R. S. Sprick, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, P. R. China: Speaker; 11/5/2026
Invited seminar: “Conjugated polymers for photocatalytic hydrogen production and carbon dioxide reduction” R. S. Sprick, Advanced Research Institute of Multidisciplinary Science, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, P. R. China: Speaker; 11/5/2026

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Projects

Sustainable fuel generation from water and plastic waste using natural sunlight: Sprick, Seb (Principal Investigator); 01-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2026
Partnership Seed Grant Application: Devlin, Jon (Principal Investigator) Clift, Lee (Co-investigator) Dombi, Erzsebet (Co-investigator) Goodfellow, Martin (Co-investigator) Humphrey, Suzanne (Co-investigator) Huq, Molly (Co-investigator) Kirkpatrick, Ryan (Co-investigator) Murphy, Fiona (Co-investigator) Neves, Karla (Co-investigator) Sprick, Seb (Co-investigator) Wu, Yue (Co-investigator) Young, David (Co-investigator); 22-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2027
Polymer bulk-heterojunction particles coupled to binuclear catalysts for photocatalysis: Sprick, Seb (Principal Investigator); 01-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2025
Strathclyde-led Network in Health and Engineering Biology with Thailand: Sprick, Seb (Principal Investigator) Chamberlain, Luke (Co-investigator) Majumdar, Apala (Co-investigator) Scott, Fraser (Co-investigator); 26-Jan-2025 - 30-Jan-2027
Photocatalytic and photolectrocatalytic conversion of local feedstocks into valuable building blocks: Sprick, Seb (Principal Investigator); 01-Jan-2024 - 31-Jan-2026
CREW Psychoactive Substances: Sprick, Seb (Principal Investigator) Ceniccola-Campos, Kristin (Co-investigator); 27-Jan-2024 - 31-Jan-2025