Professor Moritz Kuehnel

Honorary Associate Professor

Faculty of Science and Engineering

m.f.kuehnel@swansea.ac.uk

Research Links

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About

I am a Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Hohenheim and an Honorary Associate Professor at Swansea's Department of Chemistry. Our research is based on integrating molecular and biological catalysts with nanomaterials into functional hybrid materials for solar-dirvel generation of fuels and chemicals.

Visit our group website for more information.

Areas Of Expertise

Photocatalysis
Electrochemistry
CO2 reduction
H2 evolution
Biomass utilisation
Fluorine chemistry

Languages Spoken

German

Career Highlights

Research

Publications

Research Highlights

Bashir, I., McGettrick, J., Kuehnel, M., Sarfraz, B., Arshad, S., & Rauf, A. (2024). Sustainable Formate Synthesis: Integrating Ethylene Glycol Oxidation with Carbon Dioxide Electrocatalysis Using Redox-Stabilized Earth-Abundant Electrodes. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 12(12), 4795-4802.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c08233, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa65975
Kumar, A., Majithia, P., Choudhary, P., Mabbett, I., Kuehnel, M., Pitchaimuthu, S., & Krishnan, V. (2022). MXene coupled graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets based plasmonic photocatalysts for removal of pharmaceutical pollutant. Chemosphere, 308, 136297
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.136297, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa61166
Allan, M., Pichon, T., McCune, J., Cavazza, C., Goff, A., & Kuehnel, M. (2023). Augmenting the Performance of Hydrogenase for Aerobic Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution via Solvent Tuning. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 62(22)
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202219176, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa63074
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.202219176
Davies, K., Allan, M., Nagarajan, S., Townsend, R., Dunlop, T., McGettrick, J., Asokan, V., Ananthraj, S., Watson, T., Godfrey, R., Durrant, J., Maroto-Valer, M., Kuehnel, M., & Pitchaimuthu, S. (2023). Solar light-driven simultaneous pharmaceutical pollutant degradation and green hydrogen production using a mesoporous nanoscale WO3/BiVO4 heterostructure photoanode. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 11(3), 110256
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2023.110256, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa63594
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2023.110256
Uthra, K., Chitra, V., Damodharan, N., Devadoss, A., Kuehnel, M., Exposito, A., Nagarajan, S., Pitchaimuthu, S., & Pazhani, G. (2023). Microplastic emerging pollutants – impact on microbiological diversity, diarrhea, antibiotic resistance, and bioremediation. Environmental Science: Advances, 2(11), 1469-1487.
https://doi.org/10.1039/d3va00084b, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64785
http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d3va00084b

All Research

Journal Articles

McKee, M., Kutter, M., Wu, Y., Williams, H., Vaudreuil, M., Carta, M., Yadav, A., Singh, H., Masson, J., Lentz, D., Kuehnel, M., & Kornienko, N. (2025). Hydrophobic assembly of molecular catalysts at the gas–liquid–solid interface drives highly selective CO2 electromethanation. Nature Chemistry, 17(1), 92-100.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-024-01650-6, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69362
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-024-01650-6
Bashir, I., McGettrick, J., Kuehnel, M., Sarfraz, B., Arshad, S., & Rauf, A. (2024). Sustainable Formate Synthesis: Integrating Ethylene Glycol Oxidation with Carbon Dioxide Electrocatalysis Using Redox-Stabilized Earth-Abundant Electrodes. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 12(12), 4795-4802.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c08233, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa65975
Davies, K., Allan, M., Nagarajan, S., Townsend, R., Asokan, V., Watson, T., Godfrey, R., Maroto-Valer, M., Kuehnel, M., & Pitchaimuthu, S. (2023). Photoelectrocatalytic Surfactant Pollutant Degradation and Simultaneous Green Hydrogen Generation. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, 62(45), 19084-19094.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.3c00840, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa65139
Uthra, K., Chitra, V., Damodharan, N., Devadoss, A., Kuehnel, M., Exposito, A., Nagarajan, S., Pitchaimuthu, S., & Pazhani, G. (2023). Microplastic emerging pollutants – impact on microbiological diversity, diarrhea, antibiotic resistance, and bioremediation. Environmental Science: Advances, 2(11), 1469-1487.
https://doi.org/10.1039/d3va00084b, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64785
http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d3va00084b
Davies, K., Allan, M., Nagarajan, S., Townsend, R., Dunlop, T., McGettrick, J., Asokan, V., Ananthraj, S., Watson, T., Godfrey, R., Durrant, J., Maroto-Valer, M., Kuehnel, M., & Pitchaimuthu, S. (2023). Solar light-driven simultaneous pharmaceutical pollutant degradation and green hydrogen production using a mesoporous nanoscale WO3/BiVO4 heterostructure photoanode. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 11(3), 110256
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2023.110256, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa63594
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2023.110256
Allan, M., Pichon, T., McCune, J., Cavazza, C., Goff, A., & Kuehnel, M. (2023). Augmenting the Performance of Hydrogenase for Aerobic Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution via Solvent Tuning. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 62(22)
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202219176, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa63074
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.202219176
Bollmann, J., Pitchaimuthu, S., Kuehnel, M., & Pitchaimuthu, S. (2023). Challenges of Industrial-Scale Testing Infrastructure for Green Hydrogen Technologies. Energies, 16(8), 3604
https://doi.org/10.3390/en16083604, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa65138
Cherif, Y., Azzi, H., Sridharan, K., Ji, S., Choi, H., Allan, M., Benaissa, S., Saidi-Bendahou, K., Damptey, L., Ribeiro, C., Krishnamurthy, S., Nagarajan, S., Maroto-Valer, M., Kuehnel, M., & Pitchaimuthu, S. (2023). Facile Synthesis of Gram-Scale Mesoporous Ag/TiO₂ Photocatalysts for Pharmaceutical Water Pollutant Removal and Green Hydrogen Generation. ACS Omega, 8(1), 1249-1261.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.2c06657, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa65137
Kumar, A., Majithia, P., Choudhary, P., Mabbett, I., Kuehnel, M., Pitchaimuthu, S., & Krishnan, V. (2022). MXene coupled graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets based plasmonic photocatalysts for removal of pharmaceutical pollutant. Chemosphere, 308, 136297
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.136297, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa61166
Pitchaimuthu, S., Sridharan, K., Nagarajan, S., Ananthraj, S., Robertson, P., Kuehnel, M., Irabien, Á., & Maroto-Valer, M. (2022). Solar Hydrogen Fuel Generation from Wastewater—Beyond Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting: A Perspective. Energies, 15(19), 7399
https://doi.org/10.3390/en15197399, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa65136
Allen, M., McKee, M., Marken, F., & Kuehnel, M. (2021). Solvent-controlled O2 diffusion enables air-tolerant solar hydrogen generation. Energy & Environmental Science, 2021(10)
https://doi.org/10.1039/d1ee01822a, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa57689
Jones, B., Davies, K., Anantharaj, S., Mabbett, I., Watson, T., Durrant, J., Kuehnel, M., Pitchaimuthu, S., & Allan, M. (2021). Photoelectrochemical concurrent hydrogen generation and heavy metal recovery from polluted acidic mine water. Sustainable Energy & Fuels, 5(12), 3084-3091.
https://doi.org/10.1039/d1se00232e, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa56744
Omorogie, M., Babalola, J., Ismaeel, M., McGettrick, J., Watson, T., Dawson, D., Carta, M., & Kuehnel, M. (2021). Activated carbon from Nauclea diderrichii agricultural waste–a promising adsorbent for ibuprofen, methylene blue and CO2. Advanced Powder Technology, 32(3), 866-874.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apt.2021.01.031, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa56331
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apt.2021.01.031
McCune, J., Kuehnel, M., Reisner, E., & Scherman, O. (2020). Stimulus-Mediated Ultrastable Radical Formation. Chem, 6(7), 1819-1830.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chempr.2020.05.005, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa57997
Wagner, A., Ly, K., Heidary, N., Szabó, I., Földes, T., Assaf, K., Barrow, S., Sokołowski, K., Al-Hada, M., Kornienko, N., Kuehnel, M., Rosta, E., Zebger, I., Nau, W., Scherman, O., & Reisner, E. (2020). Host–Guest Chemistry Meets Electrocatalysis: Cucurbit[6]uril on a Au Surface as a Hybrid System in CO2 Reduction. ACS Catalysis, 10(1), 751-761.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.9b04221, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa53292
Leung, J., Warnan, J., Ly, K., Heidary, N., Nam, D., Kuehnel, M., & Reisner, E. (2019). Solar-driven reduction of aqueous CO2 with a cobalt bis(terpyridine)-based photocathode. Nature Catalysis, 2(4), 354-365.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-019-0254-2, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa50565
Kuehnel, M., Creissen, C., Sahm, C., Wielend, D., Schlosser, A., Orchard, K., & Reisner, E. (2019). ZnSe Nanorods as Visible-Light Absorbers for Photocatalytic and Photoelectrochemical H2 Evolution in Water. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 58(15), 5059-5063.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201814265, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48697
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.201814265
Wakerley, D., Ly, K., Kornienko, N., Orchard, K., Kuehnel, M., & Reisner, E. (2018). Aerobic conditions enhance the photocatalytic stability of CdS/CdOx quantum dots. Chemistry - A European Journal
https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.201802353, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa40422
Raza, A., Kuehnel, M., Talavera, M., Teltewskoi, M., Ahrens, M., Kläring, P., Braun, T., & Lentz, D. (2018). Reactivity of rhodium hydrido and silyl complexes towards 1,1-difluoroallene. Journal of Fluorine Chemistry, 214, 80-85.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfluchem.2018.08.002, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48694
Uekert, T., Kuehnel, M., Wakerley, D., & Reisner, E. (2018). Plastic waste as a feedstock for solar-driven H2 generation. Energy & Environmental Science, 11(10), 2853-2857.
https://doi.org/10.1039/c8ee01408f, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa45478
Kuehnel, M. & Reisner, E. (2018). Solar Hydrogen Generation from Lignocellulose. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 57(13), 3290-3296.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201710133, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa38421
Kuehnel, M., Sahm, C., Neri, G., Lee, J., Orchard, K., Cowan, A., & Reisner, E. (2018). ZnSe quantum dots modified with a Ni(cyclam) catalyst for efficient visible-light driven CO2 reduction in water. Chemical Science, 9(9), 2501-2509.
https://doi.org/10.1039/c7sc04429a, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa39379
https://doi.org/10.1039/c7sc04429a
Reuillard, B., Ly, K., Rosser, T., Kuehnel, M., Zebger, I., & Reisner, E. (2017). Tuning Product Selectivity for Aqueous CO2 Reduction with a Mn(bipyridine)-pyrene Catalyst Immobilized on a Carbon Nanotube Electrode. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 139(41), 14425-14435.
https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.7b06269, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa38422
http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85031743998&partnerID=MN8TOARS
Kuehnel, M., Orchard, K., Dalle, K., & Reisner, E. (2017). Selective Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction in Water through Anchoring of a Molecular Ni Catalyst on CdS Nanocrystals. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 139(21), 7217-7223.
https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.7b00369, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa38418
Wakerley, D., Kuehnel, M., Orchard, K., Ly, K., Rosser, T., & Reisner, E. (2017). Solar-driven reforming of lignocellulose to H2 with a CdS/CdOx photocatalyst. Nature Energy, 2(4), 17021
https://doi.org/10.1038/nenergy.2017.21, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa38419
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/263705
Crespo-Quesada, M., Pazos-Outón, L., Warnan, J., Kuehnel, M., Friend, R., & Reisner, E. (2016). Metal-encapsulated organolead halide perovskite photocathode for solar-driven hydrogen evolution in water. Nature Communications, 7, 12555
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12555, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa38423
Kuehnel, M., Wakerley, D., Orchard, K., & Reisner, E. (2015). Photocatalytic Formic Acid Conversion on CdS Nanocrystals with Controllable Selectivity for H2or CO. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 54(33), 9627-9631.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201502773, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa38426
Kuehnel, M., Lentz, D., & Braun, T. (2013). Synthesis of Fluorinated Building Blocks by Transition-Metal-Mediated Hydrodefluorination Reactions. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 52(12), 3328-3348.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201205260, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa38430
Kuehnel, M., Holstein, P., Kliche, M., Krüger, J., Matthies, S., Nitsch, D., Schutt, J., Sparenberg, M., & Lentz, D. (2012). Titanium-Catalyzed Vinylic and Allylic C-F Bond Activation-Scope, Limitations and Mechanistic Insight. Chemistry - A European Journal, 18(34), 10701-10714.
https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.201201125, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa38432
Kuehnel, M., Schlöder, T., Riedel, S., Nieto-Ortega, B., Ramirez, F., López Navarrete, J., Casado, J., & Lentz, D. (2012). Synthesis of the Smallest Axially Chiral Molecule by Asymmetric Carbon-Fluorine Bond Activation. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 51(9), 2218-2220.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201108105, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa38434
Kuehnel, M. & Lentz, D. (2010). Fluorinated dienes in transition-metal chemistry – the rich chemistry of electron-poor ligands. Dalton Transactions, 39(41), 9745
https://doi.org/10.1039/c0dt00097c, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa38439
Kühnel, M., Lentz, D., & Kuehnel, M. (2010). Titanium-Catalyzed C-F Activation of Fluoroalkenes. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 49(16), 2933-2936.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.200907162, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa38437
Kühnel, M., Lentz, D., & Kuehnel, M. (2010). Titankatalysierte C-F-Aktivierung von Fluoralkenen. Angewandte Chemie, 122(16), 2995-2998.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.200907162, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48695
Kühnel, M., Lentz, D., & Kuehnel, M. (2009). Hydrometalation of fluoroallenes. Dalton Transactions(24), 4747
https://doi.org/10.1039/b903300a, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa38442
Hügle, T., Kühnel, M., Lentz, D., & Kuehnel, M. (2009). Hydrazine Borane: A Promising Hydrogen Storage Material. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 131(21), 7444-7446.
https://doi.org/10.1021/ja9013437, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa38441

Other Research Outputs

Kuehnel, M. & Lentz, D. (2012). Efficient Preparations of Fluorine Compounds
https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118409466.ch50, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa38431

Supervision

The Generation of Solar Fuels in Deep Eutectic Solvents (awarded 2023)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr Mariolino Carta
A Heterostructure Metal Oxide Based Photoanode for Photoelectrocatalytic Degradation of Water Pollutants and Hydrogen Generation (awarded 2022)

PhD

Other supervisor: Prof Trystan Watson