Faces of innovation: Daniely Reis Santos

How do you explain your PhD defense to an outsider?

“My PhD is a kind of artificial photosynthesis. Plants use sunlight to convert water and CO2 into sugars that store energy. I develop materials that also capture sunlight but instead use that energy to convert water and CO2 into useful chemicals, such as hydrogen and carbon monoxide. So, in a way, we are trying to mimic what plants already do naturally but producing molecules that could be used as fuels or as building blocks for other chemicals.”

IUMAT takes a highly interdisciplinary approach. How has this changed your perspective on materials technology?

“It taught me that developing a good material is only part of the story. A material can have excellent properties on paper, but its real performance depends on many other factors: how it is synthesized, its interfaces, surface chemistry, stability and ultimately how it behaves inside a working device. Working across different disciplines made me look at materials less as isolated compounds and more as part of a complete system.”

EUREKA moment: what was the absolute highlight of the past few years?

“Seeing the first hydrogen and carbon monoxide signals appear. During my research in Singapore, I learned how to connect a light-driven reaction cell directly to gas analysis. Back in Belgium, I implemented this system in our lab. Seeing work and directly detecting the fuels produced by our materials, was incredibly rewarding. It was the moment when years of studying materials turned into actually seeing them use sunlight to produce fuels.”

Where do you hope your research will be in 7 years? What impact will this have on everyday life?

“I hope we will be much closer to turning solar-fuel technologies from promising laboratory demonstrations into practical devices. We are still far from a world that no longer depends on fossil resources, not only for energy but also as raw materials for many chemicals and products we use every day. My research aims to provide an alternative: using sunlight, water and CO2 to produce the molecules we need in a more sustainable way. Ultimately, I hope solar energy will not only power our homes but also help make the fuels and everyday products we rely on.”