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

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 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.202201299
Photocatalytic overall water splitting under visible light enabled by a particulate conjugated polymer loaded with 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 International Edition (2022); https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202201299
Reconstructed covalent organic frameworks: Zhang Weiwei, Chen Linjiang, Dai Sheng, Zhao Chengxi, Ma Cheng, Wei Lei, Zhu Minghui, Chong Samantha Y, Yang Haofan, Liu Lunjie, Bai Yang, Yu Miaojie, Xu Yongjie, Zhu Xiao Wei, Zhu Qiang, An Shuhao, Sprick Reiner Sebastian, Little Marc A, Wu Xiaofeng, Jiang Shan, Wu Yongzhen, Zhang Yue Biao, Tian He, Zhu Wei Hong, Cooper Andrew I; Nature Vol 604, pp. 72-79 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04443-4
The potential scarcity, or not, of polymeric overall water splitting photocatalysts: Saunders Benedict, Wilbraham Liam, Prentice Andrew W, Sprick Reiner Sebastian, Zwijnenburg Martijn A; Sustainable Energy and Fuels Vol 6, pp. 2233-2242 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1039/d2se00027j
Time-resolved Raman spectroscopy of polaron formation in a polymer photocatalyst: Piercy Verity L, Saeed Khezar H, Prentice Andrew W, Neri Gaia, Li Chao, Gardner Adrian M, Bai Yang, Sprick Reiner Sebastian, Sazanovich Igor V, Cooper Andrew I, Rosseinsky Matthew J, Zwijnenburg Martijn A, Cowan Alexander J; Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters Vol 12, pp. 10899-10905 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c03073
Integrated covalent organic framework/carbon nanotube composite as Li‐ion positive electrode with ultra-high rate performance: Gao Hui, Zhu Qiang, Neale Alex R, Bahri Mounib, Wang Xue, Yang Haofan, Liu Lunjie, Clowes Rob, Browning Nigel D, Sprick Reiner Sebastian, Little Marc A, Hardwick Laurence J, Cooper Andrew I; Advanced Energy Materials Vol 11 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.202101880

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

Invited contribution: 'Solar fuel production from water using polymer photocatalysts', 1st International Virtual Conference on Emerging Porous Materials (ePorMat-21), Bhubaneswar, India: Speaker; 29/7/2021
External Examiner for PhD viva at Bergische Universität Wuppertal: Examiner; 6/7/2021
Invited departmental seminar: 'Conjugated Materials for Solar Water Splitting', Department of Chemistry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden: Speaker; 17/6/2021
Invited departmental seminar: 'Conjugated Materials for Solar Water Splitting'. Department of Physical & Earth Sciences, Sol Plaatje University, Kimberley, South Africa: Speaker; 22/4/2021

More professional activities

Projects

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-2023
Core-shell conjugated microporous polymers for photocatalytic bacteria inactivation: Sprick, Seb (Principal Investigator); 08-Jan-2021 - 07-Jan-2022

More projects

Address

Pure and Applied Chemistry
Thomas Graham Building

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