Canisius College

Steven Szczepankiewicz - Research Interests

Dr. Szczepankiewicz’s group is interested in developing rugged photoactivated catalysts capable of reducing small stable molecules such as CO₂.

One application of reduction photocatalysis is incorporating a small inactive molecule like CO₂ into some useful product.  We’ve demonstrated the ability to reduce CO₂ in the presence of benzyl alcohol to produce benzyl formate, a common fragrance additive.  The reaction is completed under the following conditions:  10 µM TMS-HPT, 30 µM benzyl alcohol, 1 atm CO₂, and 10 min UV (1 kW Xe).

(tha)₆[SiW₁₁O₃₉Co(CO₂)] + 2 C₆H₅CH₂OH    

We are investigating the possibility of generating H₂ from ethanol using similar conditions.