Denny Gunawan

PhD Candidate | UNSW Sydney
I have always been passionate about the environment, which led me to pursue a PhD focusing on renewable energy and waste remediation. I work on a process technology called photoreforming that turns waste organics into hydrogen fuel and value-added chemicals simultaneously. Photoreforming is a simple one-pot process that utilizes abundant renewable solar energy to power the reaction. This technology is relatively new, but I am currently improving its viability by developing more efficient photocatalysts, controlling organic oxidation selectivity to make high economic value byproducts, and scaling up the process. I hope the findings of this research could help in addressing a number of global issues such as renewable energy, environmental remediation, and sustainable chemical synthesis.
In addition to my PhD research, I have also been active in advocating renewable hydrogen as key for decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors.
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Supervisor: Prof Rose Amal, A/Prof Jason Scott and Dr Cuiying Toe