About the Network
We aim to develop an effective community of solar fuels researchers from both academia and industry. We seek to raise the profile of the UK Solar to Chemicals research community nationally and internationally, to promote collaboration and co-operation with other research disciplines, industry and international solar to chemicals programmes, and to contribute towards the development of a policy roadmap. Membership of the network is free and available to both UK-based and international researchers. Membership gives access to our events, workshops and seminars related to solar-driven fuels synthesis, and members receive a quarterly newsletter. Bursaries are available for UK-based members for travel, outreach and public engagement, and bilateral exchange – visit the Funding page for more details.
Meet the Team
The development of the field to encorporate a wide range of technological approaches requires expertise in a broad range of underpinning science and engineering. Our Network is lead by Prof. Salvador Eslava at Imperial and supported by founder directors, expert theme leads in biocatalysis, electrocatalysis, light harvesting and deveice engingeering & carbon capture, and advisory board of academics and industry. Learn more about our network team here. We are also extremely grateful to our independent advisory board who guide network activities.

SCN Director
Prof. Salvador Eslava, Imperial College
Salva is a Professor of Applied Energy Materials in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London. His research focuses on advanced materials and architectures for solar chemical systems, including photocatalysis and photoelectrochemistry, leveraging emerging materials such as halide perovskites, organic bulk heterojunctions, and single-atom catalysts. His work combines materials chemistry, chemical engineering, and device development to advance scalable solar chemical technologies. As Director of the UK Solar Chemicals Network, Salva leads the Network's scientific vision and activities, working closely with the Founder Directors, Theme Leads, and Advisory Board to strengthen the UK solar chemicals community, foster interdisciplinary collaboration, and support the development of the next generation of researchers. He also serves on committees and interest groups of organisations including the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Institution of Chemical Engineers, helping to strengthen the Network's connections across the UK research and innovation landscape.
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SCN Founding Director
Prof. Alex Cowan, Liverpool
Alex is a physical chemist who leads a research group that develops and studies catalysts for the sustainable production of fuels. Current interests include the development of electrolyzers for carbon dioxide reduction in acids and the study of both inorganic and organic materials for solar fuels production. Alex joined the the department of Chemistry and the Stephenson Institute for Renewable Energy in 2012 following posts at Imperial College London and PhD studies at the University of Nottingham. Alex and Jenny work take the lead in delivering the network activities with the support of the networks project manager. As part of his role with the SCN Alex is one of the UK representatives for Mission Innovation activities on Solar to X and he also leads the technology development program of the UKRI Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical economy.

SCN Founding Deputy Director
Dr Jenny Zhang, Cambridge
Jenny works at the intersection of many disciplines, including physics, synthetic biology, chemical biology, engineering and material science; but electrochemistry is central to all her activities. The goal of the Jenny's work is to develop smart bio-hybrid approaches that can serve as tools to understand the bioenergetics of complex biological systems and as a platform to launch new biotechnologies to address a range of societal needs (including for renewable energy generation, carbon capture, precision farming, environmental sensing, and medicine). A focus in on re-wiring photosynthesis for sustainable photo-energy conversion. Jenny completed her PhD in bioinorganic chemistry at the University of Sydney, Australia, with a brief stint at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she developed redox active platinum-based anti-cancer agents and studied their biodistribtion/metabolism within tumour models. She then became a Marie Curie Incoming International Fellow at the University of Cambridge to explore how biocatalysts can be exploited to generate solar fuels through 'semi-artificial photosynthesis'. She has since been awarded a BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship at the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry. She has recently been awarded the RSC Felix Franks Biotechnology Medal and the L'Oreal UNESCO Sustainable Development award for Women in Science.

Theme lead - Biocatalysis
Prof. Julea Butt, UEA
Julea Butt is a professor of biophysics whose work provides fundamental insight into the coupling of enzymes to electrodes and synthetic light-harvesting materials with the aims of inspiring new biotechnology including sustainable electronic materials and biohybrid approaches to semi-artificial photosynthesis. Highlights include understanding and harnessing electron transfer through cytochrome nanowires that span bacterial cell walls. Her group employ diverse methodologies including protein engineering, advanced spectroscopies, structure resolution and state-of-the-art protein film electrochemistry. In recognition of her achievements Julea received the 2021 Katsumi Niki Prize for Bioelectrochemistry from the International Society of Electrochemistry, a Royal Society Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship in 2015 and the inaugural Young Investigator Medal from the British Biophysical Society

Theme lead - Electrocatalysis
Prof. Ifan Stephens, Imperial College
Ifan leads the Interfacial Electrochemistry Group at the Department of Materials. Ifan joined Imperial College in July 2017. Prior to Imperial, he was at the Department of Physics at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU); he was first employed as a postdoctoral researcher, then as assistant professor and finally as associate professor and leader of the Electrocatalysis Group there. In 2015, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) appointed Ifan as the Peabody Visiting Associate Professor. He taught and conducted research at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT for a whole semester. Ifan’s research aims to enable the large-scale electrochemical conversion of renewable energy to fuels and valuable chemicals and vice versa. Such processes will be critical in order to allow the increased uptake of renewable energy.

Theme lead - Light Harvesting
Prof. Elizabeth Gibson, Newcastle
Libby is a Professor of Energy Materials at Newcastle University. Research in her group focuses on solar cell and solar fuel devices that function at a molecular level and challenge the conventional solid-state photovoltaic technologies. This involves materials development, device assembly and characterization of the underpinning photophysics and electrochemistry. Her current roles include being the academic lead for the EPSRC Northeast Transient Absorption Spectroscopy & Microscopy Facility, Institution Director of the EPSRC CDT Renewable Energy at Northeast Universities (ReNU), and she is the engagement lead for the UKRI Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy. Libby is also the co-Director of the Centre for Energy at Newcastle, Director of the £30M Newcastle University Academic Track (NUAcT) Fellowship scheme.

Theme lead - devices and C-capture
Prof. Alex Forse, Cambridge
Alex brings expertise in novel materials for carbon capture. The aim of the Forse group is to understand and improve materials that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and tackle the global warming crisis. Limiting global warming to 1.5 ºC requires the rapid development and deployment of a range of greenhouse gas mitigation technologies. In the Forse group they explore the functional behaviour of new materials for CO2 capture and electrochemical energy storage. They specialise in the application of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy techniques that are complemented by synthetic chemistry, electrochemistry and computational chemistry.

Theme lead - devices and C-capture
Prof Gianluca Li Puma, Loughborough
Gianluca Li Puma is Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at Loughborough University. His academic qualifications include: Laurea, Chemical Engineering (University of Palermo, Italy, 1992) MPhil, Chemical Engineering (University of Bath, 1993) PhD, Chemical Engineering (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 1996). This was followed by a three-year postdoctoral fellowship at HKUST on photocatalysis & photoreaction engineering research. From 2000-2010 he was Assistant and Associate Professor in the School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nottingham. He has extensive expertise in the field of solar fuels and photocatalysis including in process intensification and reactor design.
Welcome to the UK Solar Chemicals Network.
The transition to a sustainable chemical industry is one of the defining scientific and technological challenges of our time. Harnessing sunlight to produce fuels and chemicals from abundant resources such as water, carbon dioxide and nitrogen offers an exciting pathway towards a low-carbon future. While remarkable progress has been made across photocatalysis, photoelectrochemistry and related technologies, significant challenges remain before these approaches can be deployed at scale. Addressing these challenges requires collaboration across disciplines. The UK Solar Chemicals Network provides a platform to bring this diverse community together, fostering new ideas, collaborations and opportunities that accelerate scientific discovery and translation.
As Director of the Network, I look forward to working with our members to strengthen this vibrant research community, support the next generation of researchers, and promote partnerships between academia, industry and policymakers. Whether you are an established researcher, an early career scientist, or are new to the field, I encourage you to engage with our workshops, meetings and activities, and to help shape the future of solar chemicals research in the UK.
I look forward to meeting many of you at our upcoming events.
Yours,
Prof. Salvador Eslava
Director, UK Solar Chemicals Network
A Message from the Director

Prof. Salvador Eslava
