Speakers   Dr. Chi-Fai Leung, EdUHK SES Dept.
Date and Time   12 April 2017 (Wednesday) 12:30nn – 1:00pm
Venue   D3-G-05, Tai Po Campus
Language   English

Abstract
The depletion of fossil fuels and the global climate change associated with the anthropogenic emission of carbon dioxide have prompted scientists to secure renewable sources of energy. The conversion of solar energy to produce storable fuels and industrially useful compounds such as hydrogen, carbon monoxide and methane, using earth abundant materials (water and carbon dioxide) as feedstock by artificial photosynthetic process has been considered a promising models. In this seminar, the application of such process for photo-reduction of water and carbon dioxide, using three first-row transition metal catalysts bearing tripodal iminopyridine ligands [Co(tachpy3)]ClO4 (1) and [Co(trenpy3)]ClO4 (2) (trenpy3 = tris-[4-(2-pyridyl)-3-azabut-3-enyl]amine and tachpy3 = cis,cis-1,3,5-tris(pyridine-2-carboxaldimino)-cyclohexane), as well as polypyridyl ligand [Cu(qpy)](ClO4)2 (3) (qpy = 2,2':6',2":6",2'"-quaterpyridine) will be discussed.

About the Speaker
Dr. Chi-Fai Leung obtained his PhD in chemistry from City University of Hong Kong. He was a Chemist in Alstom Power Service, Research Fellow in City University of Hong Kong and a Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow in Laboratoire d'Electrochimie Moléculaire in Université Paris Diderot (Paris 7). He joined the EdUHK as Lecturer in 2012 and is now an Assistant Professor. He currently is the Principle Investigator of two GRF projects in chemical science and several internal projects in the University. His research interests include molecular catalysis for photochemical conversion of solar energy, photochemistry and photophysics of coordination compounds and reactivity of high-valent transition metal complexes.