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When a University of Waterloo researcher announced he had developed an “artificial leaf” that converts harmful carbon dioxide into fuel, his discovery was celebrated around the world.

Professor Yimin Wu’s breakthrough was an exciting advance in research he conducted at a national laboratory in the United States before joining Waterloo’s Faculty of Engineering last year. Wu landed in Waterloo after undertaking a worldwide search for a post that would allow him to teach and take his work to “the next level.”

His decision to move to Canada was based on two main factors: the distinctive culture at Waterloo and Canada’s reputation for inclusivity.

Scientists have created an “artificial leaf” to fight climate change by inexpensively converting harmful carbon dioxide (CO2) into a useful alternative fuel.

The new technology, outlined in a paper published today in the journal Nature Energy, was inspired by the way plants use energy from sunlight to turn carbon dioxide into food.

“We call it an artificial leaf because it mimics real leaves and the process of photosynthesis,” said Yimin Wu, an engineering professor at the University of Waterloo who led the research. “A leaf produces glucose and oxygen. We produce methanol and oxygen.”

Bryce Kieffer joined Materials Interface Foundry as a Master's student.

Professor Yimin Wu was awarded a Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery Grant and a Discovery Launch Supplement as a principle investigator.

Professor Yimin Wu was awarded Mitacs Accelerate Grant as a Co-principle investigator.

Welcome Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering PhD student Tao Guo on joining the MIF!

Professor Yimin Wu was invited to give a talk at the State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA.

Sustainable energy is one of the greatest challenges facing our planet this century. Interfaces are key to the realization of high-performance optoelectronics, batteries, and catalysts that are promising for sustainable energy.

Dr. Yimin Wu invited to give a talk at University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

ICICS and the Clean Energy Research Centre co-hosted a talk by Professor Yimin Wu of the University of Waterloo’s Institute for Nanotechnology on December 9.

On December 10th, 2019, professor Yimin Wu was invited to give a talk at University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Special thanks to professor Robert Rohling for the invitation.

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Professor Yimin Wu speaks on the Heroic Minds podcast, detailing his development of an artificial leaf that produces energy from CO2. On the podcast professor Wu talks about the philosophy and science behind this revolutionary breakthrough.

Listen to the podcast here