The PROMETEO excellence project has been conceived as a high risky/high gain research project for direct impact in Academia but also foreseeable relevance to Industry, in the medium term. If successful, it will pave the way for the use of MOFs as: a) Advanced porous photocatalysts for energy conversion and generation of solar fuels, b) Electro-reduction of CO2 for environmental remediation toward the production of C1 feedstocks (circular economy) and c) Their use as chemical nano-reactors to direct the growth of ligand–free SNMCs of relevance in industrial catalysis, with exquisite control over nuclearity, size and electronic structure. The proposed research plan has the potential to produce results that represent a stepping stone in research fields of strategic technological value like photo-catalysis, electrocatalysis, medicine (bio-imaging, cancer treatment, etc.) and metal cluster catalysis.
At a national level, the PROMETEO excellence project meets two of the challenges defined the Spanish Strategy of Science and Technology and Innovation 2013-2020: Challenge 3 (Secure energy, sustainable and clean) and Challenge 5 (Action on climate change and efficiency in the use of resources and raw materials). We have also devised an exhaustive training plan for a rigorous professional environment in order to accelerate career development. This research is also oriented to produce new knowledge linked to challenges of society as energy and development of safe, sustainable and efficient energetic models.
At a regional level, the project also aims to attack the problems that limit an efficient transfer of the scientific knowledge to the productive system. This is demonstrated by the recent creation of the ‘Agencia Valenciana de la Innovación’, that aims to facilitate the interaction between the different partners of the R&D Valencian system. Our project also introduces specific activities to overcome limitations as the cost or availability of the materials produced, to facilitate the transfer of our results to regional companies that may be interested.