Dr Sebastian Sprick

Strathclyde Chancellor's Fellow

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.

Publications

Impact of interfaces, and nanostructure on the performance of conjugated polymer photocatalysts for hydrogen production from water
McQueen Ewan, Bai Yang, Sprick Reiner Sebastian
Nanomaterials Vol 12 (2022)
https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12234299
Why do sulfone-containing polymer photocatalysts work so well for sacrificial hydrogen evolution from water?
Hillman Sam A J, Sprick Reiner Sebastian, Pearce Drew, Woods Duncan J, Sit Wai-Yu, Shi Xingyuan, Cooper Andrew I, Durrant James R, Nelson Jenny
Journal of the American Chemical Society Vol 144, pp. 19382-19395 (2022)
https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.2c07103
Linear conjugated polymer photocatalysts with various linker units for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water
Liu Lunjie, Kochman Michał A, Zhao Wei, Zwijnenburg Martijn A, Sprick Reiner Sebastian
Chemical Communications Vol 58, pp. 10639-10642 (2022)
https://doi.org/10.1039/d2cc03810b
Covalent triazine-based frameworks with cobalt-loading for visible light-driven photocatalytic water oxidation
Chen Hongmei, Gardner Adrian M, Lin Guoan, Zhao Wei, Bahri Mounib, Browning Nigel D, Sprick Reiner Sebastian, Li Xiaobo, Xu Xiaoxiang, Cooper Andrew I
Catalysis Science and Technology Vol 12, pp. 5442-5452 (2022)
https://doi.org/10.1039/d2cy00773h
Rational design of covalent organic frameworks for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen peroxide production
Chai Shuming, Chen Xiaowen, Zhang Xirui, Fang Yuanxing, Sprick Reiner Sebastian, Chen Xiong
Environmental Science: Nano Vol 9, pp. 2464-2469 (2022)
https://doi.org/10.1039/d2en00135g
Photocatalytic overall water splitting under visible light enabled by a particulate conjugated polymer loaded with palladium and iridium
Bai Yang, Li Chao, Liu Lunjie, Yamaguchi Yuichi, Bahri Mounib, Yang Haofan, Gardner Adrian, Zwijnenburg Martijn A, Browning Nigel D, Cowan Alexander J, Kudo Akihiko, Cooper Andrew I, Sprick Reiner Sebastian
Angewandte Chemie Vol 134 (2022)
https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.202201299

More publications

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

Climate Education (Fresk) Workshop for EACU Scotland Conference 2023
Organiser
8/2/2023
Facilitation of Climate Fresk workshop for 2YR UG course in PAC
Recipient
17/10/2022
University Of Strathclyde (Organisational unit)
Member
10/10/2022
Invited departmental seminar (The 72nd CMS International Seminar): “Solar fuel production from water using polymer photocatalysts” R. S. Sprick, Center for Molecular Systems, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
Speaker
9/9/2022
Invited departmental seminar: “Solar fuel production from water using polymer photocatalysts” R. S. Sprick, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Speaker
8/9/2022
Invited departmental seminar: “Solar fuel production from water using polymer photocatalysts” R. S. Sprick, Shinshu University, Nagano, Japan
Speaker
7/9/2022

More professional activities

Projects

Conjugated polymers bearing on-chain metal complexes for photoelectrochemical carbon dioxide reduction
Sprick, Seb (Principal Investigator)
01-Jan-2022 - 30-Jan-2022
Solution-processible conjugated polymers for photoelectrochemical carbon dioxide reduction (International Exchanges 2021)
Sprick, Seb (Principal Investigator)
11-Jan-2022 - 10-Jan-2024
Doctoral Training Partnership 2020-2021 University of Strathclyde | McQueen, Ewan
Sprick, Seb (Principal Investigator) Bruns, Nico (Co-investigator) Cormack, Peter (Co-investigator) McQueen, Ewan (Research Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2021 - 01-Jan-2025
Polymer photocatalyst films for carbon dioxide reduction
Sprick, Seb (Principal Investigator)
01-Jan-2021 - 31-Jan-2022
Nickel and Palladium bearing Conjugated Polymers and Spectator Ligands for Photo-Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Reduction
Sprick, Seb (Principal Investigator)
01-Jan-2021 - 28-Jan-2022
Development of linear polymers for photoanodic water oxidation (International Exchanges NSFC)
Sprick, Seb (Principal Investigator)
30-Jan-2021 - 29-Jan-2024

More projects