Prof Ong Wee Jun Leads Malaysia's Push to Turn Sunlight Into Clean Fuels

A PETRONAS grant brings solar fuel research closer to industry

More than RM1 million in PETRONAS funding is supporting a Malaysian research project to turn carbon dioxide from flaring at onshore gas terminals into valuable chemicals using sunlight. At Xiamen University Malaysia, Prof Dr Ong Wee Jun and his team are also working toward a prototype system that produces hydrogen from sunlight, targeted for completion by mid 2026.

The two projects connect a laboratory idea with practical energy and industrial needs: capture sunlight, use it to drive chemical reactions, and store its energy in fuels. The research covers hydrogen made from water, carbon dioxide converted into methanol and other chemicals, and plastic waste transformed into useful products.

Ong is Assistant Dean at Xiamen University Malaysia and founding director of the Centre of Excellence for NaNo Energy & Catalysis Technology, known as CONNECT. His team designs artificial leaves that copy essential steps of photosynthesis, using engineered nanomaterials instead of chlorophyll to produce molecules that hold energy.

A question from his childhood still runs through the work. As a Year 4 student learning about photosynthesis, Ong wondered whether sunlight could be harnessed as plants harness it to power modern life. Nanoscience and catalysis, the study and use of materials that help chemical reactions happen, became his tools for pursuing that idea.

CONNECT's longer term vision includes modular hydrogen farms driven by solar energy that could supply rural communities. Reaching that stage means moving from promising materials tested under controlled laboratory conditions to complete devices that operate reliably outdoors.

How an artificial leaf stores sunlight

Artificial photosynthesis converts sunlight into chemical energy through materials that absorb light and catalysts that help reactions proceed. A device absorbs photons, the packets of energy carried by light, and creates mobile electrical charges. Those charges then drive reactions such as splitting water or converting carbon dioxide into other molecules.

Water splitting involves two linked reactions. One releases oxygen, while the other produces hydrogen. Semiconductors supply the energy, and catalysts lower the energy barrier that each reaction must overcome. The resulting hydrogen carries energy that can be stored, transported and used when the sun is no longer shining.

Hydrogen can supply fuel cells and serve as a clean input for ammonia production, steelmaking and refining. This gives the research a role beyond electricity generation: sunlight could also help supply fuels and materials used by industry.

Carbon dioxide conversion uses the same basic approach, with carefully chosen catalysts directing electrons toward particular products. Those products can include carbon monoxide, formic acid or methanol. Selecting the right catalyst matters because the aim is to produce useful chemicals efficiently rather than an unwanted mixture.

Artificial photosynthesis can take several forms. Some systems use powdered photocatalysts, materials that help reactions happen under light. Others use photoelectrochemical cells with electrodes that absorb light. Electrocatalytic systems use electricity from renewable sources to drive the chemistry. Across these designs, CONNECT is pursuing stable operation, high efficiency and reasonable cost.

What the PETRONAS project aims to do

In August 2024, Xiamen University Malaysia announced that Ong had received a PETRONAS Academia Collaboration Dialogue grant worth more than RM1 million. The funded project aims to use artificial photosynthesis powered by sunlight to convert carbon dioxide from flaring at onshore gas terminals into valuable chemicals.

The project focuses on an industrial emissions source, connecting catalyst research to the carbon dioxide produced during gas operations. Its objective is to turn that carbon dioxide into a chemical feedstock, a starting material that can be used to make other products.

The PETRONAS programme selected 61 projects from 588 applicants across 25 universities. Those figures mean roughly one project was selected for every ten applications. For CONNECT, the award adds to a research portfolio that includes catalysts intended to curb greenhouse gases, a prototype system that turns sunlight into hydrogen, and routes for converting palm oil waste into graphene and green hydrogen.

CONNECT links discovery with possible deployment through work with industry and government. The shared task across these projects is to make nanocatalysts perform beyond small laboratory tests, inside durable equipment exposed to real operating conditions.

Three jobs the materials must perform

CONNECT's artificial photosynthesis research depends on three connected jobs: absorbing light, keeping electrical charges apart, and providing catalytic sites where reactions happen quickly and selectively. A material may absorb sunlight well, yet the device still needs to direct the resulting charges toward useful chemistry.

Electrons and the positively charged gaps they leave behind, called holes, must remain separated long enough to take part in reactions. When they meet too soon, their useful energy is lost. The arrangement of materials inside a device therefore matters alongside the properties of each material.

CONNECT builds these functions using two dimensional materials, carefully designed junctions between materials, and surface sites made from elements that are abundant in the Earth. Its research includes graphene like carbon sheets and transition metal dichalcogenides, materials that can provide very thin pathways for charges.

Stacking one two dimensional sheet on another creates a broad interface where electrons and holes can separate efficiently. These structures are known as two dimensional heterostructures. Researchers choose pairs whose band energies, the energy levels available to their charges, suit water splitting or carbon dioxide reduction. The aim is to improve efficiency without depending on scarce elements.

Keeping the strongest charges available

Natural photosynthesis uses two steps driven by light, often represented in a diagram shaped like the letter Z. Artificial systems borrow that logic through Z scheme and S scheme designs, which control how charges move between two light absorbing materials.

The two absorbers are connected so that weaker charge carriers cancel each other, leaving electrons with strong reducing power and holes with strong oxidizing power. Reduction involves gaining electrons, while oxidation involves losing them. Keeping the most active charges available helps drive difficult reactions and suppress unwanted side processes.

CONNECT also studies transition metal carbides, including materials called MXenes. These combine high electrical conductivity with surfaces whose properties can be adjusted. They can act as light absorbers or as cocatalysts, surface helpers that speed up key reaction steps and guide which products form.

MXenes are produced by etching layered precursor materials to create conductive sheets. Their surface groups depend on the synthesis route. Those groups influence how molecules attach to the material and how charges move, both of which affect the stability and efficiency of solar fuel production.

Turning plastic and palm waste into useful products

Plastic waste is another feedstock in CONNECT's research. Photocatalytic and electrocatalytic upcycling use light or renewable electricity to drive targeted chemistry that can break long polymer chains and convert them into useful molecules.

Possible products include formate, acetate, alcohols and hydrogen. Upcycling means turning a waste material into something useful through chemical processing. For this research, the challenge includes controlling the reaction so that it delivers the desired products.

Malaysia's palm sector also produces wastes rich in carbon that can be upgraded into graphene and green hydrogen. CONNECT pairs its work on plastics with research on these agricultural residues, extending the range of waste streams that could become sources of materials and energy.

The group reports a patent related to producing graphene and hydrogen from biomethane. That work connects waste derived feedstocks with both a carbon material and an energy carrier. Plastic upcycling still requires predictable feedstock quality and selective catalysts, because the material entering a process affects the products coming out.

Why the outdoor hydrogen prototype matters

CONNECT is building a larger prototype that combines photocatalysis and photoelectrochemistry, with a working system that turns sunlight into hydrogen targeted for mid 2026. The aim is to test performance under outdoor conditions in Malaysia.

A complete device has several jobs to do at once. It must capture light, split water, keep hydrogen and oxygen separate, and withstand months of heat, rain and dust. Success with a catalyst in a controlled experiment is one stage; integrating that catalyst into equipment suitable for use outdoors is another.

Efficiency is measured partly through solar to hydrogen efficiency, the share of incoming sunlight energy converted into hydrogen. Many experts view 10 percent as a practical threshold, although costs vary by location. The engineering task is to raise that efficiency while keeping materials affordable.

Durability is equally demanding. Catalysts can deteriorate under oxygen and intense light. A device that starts with good performance must keep working over time if it is to become useful outside the laboratory.

Seawater creates further difficulties because it contains chloride. Chloride can cause corrosion and lead to chlorine formation. Researchers address these problems with protective layers, selective membranes and reaction conditions that favour hydrogen and oxygen production.

How the projects fit Malaysia's energy goals

Malaysia aims for net zero emissions by 2050, and CONNECT's research connects with several needs in that transition. Hydrogen can provide backup for renewable energy and help cut industrial emissions. Converting carbon dioxide from flaring or other process streams into feedstocks offers a way to make use of an industrial waste.

Upgrading plastics and biomass waste could reduce pressure on landfills and reduce reliance on imported fossil inputs. These routes bring energy production and waste processing into the same research programme, although each needs its own suitable catalysts and operating conditions.

Modular units that convert solar energy into fuel could eventually support schools, clinics and small businesses in remote areas where grid expansion is slow. CONNECT's proposed hydrogen farms are part of that longer term vision, linking materials research with everyday energy needs.

Artificial photosynthesis is likely to complement the growing production of green hydrogen using electrolyzers. Electrolyzers use electricity to split water. CONNECT's work explores ways to capture and use solar energy through photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical systems, while also pursuing chemicals and fuels from carbon dioxide and waste.

Partnerships and computing help narrow the search

CONNECT works with PETRONAS Research and national technology programmes, drawing together chemistry, materials science, engineering and data science. These partnerships help connect the design of catalysts with the practical requirements of industrial projects and complete devices.

Density functional theory and machine learning help researchers screen thousands of candidate catalysts before selecting a smaller number to make in the laboratory. Density functional theory uses calculations to study materials at the level of their electrons. Machine learning helps identify patterns in data that can guide the search.

These tools can save time and cost by helping the team decide which materials deserve experimental attention. They sit alongside laboratory work, where the chosen catalysts must demonstrate the performance needed for water splitting, carbon dioxide conversion or waste processing.

Ong mentors a growing group of postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers. Recognition through Highly Cited Researcher and the World's Top 2 percent Scientist list reflects the reach of his research, while the practical goal remains devices that reliably make clean fuels under Malaysian conditions.

The next test is reliable operation

The projects span a sequence from funding to planned testing:

• August 2024: Xiamen University Malaysia announced Ong's PETRONAS Academia Collaboration Dialogue grant worth more than RM1 million.
• November 14, 2025: CONNECT's work covers hydrogen from water, carbon dioxide conversion, plastic upcycling and useful products from palm sector waste.
• Mid 2026: The team targets completion of a working prototype combining photocatalysis and photoelectrochemistry to produce hydrogen from sunlight.
• 2050: Malaysia's net zero emissions goal provides the longer term national context for the research.

CONNECT still needs to raise efficiency, improve durability, lower the cost of supporting equipment and design safe gas handling. Carbon dioxide conversion can produce mixtures that require separation, adding another task between the reaction itself and a useful finished product.

The mid 2026 target gives a testing milestone; commercial deployment timing is not yet specified. Field data from the prototype and the PETRONAS project will help determine where artificial photosynthesis fits best within Malaysia's energy transition.

Key Points

• Prof Dr Ong Wee Jun leads CONNECT at Xiamen University Malaysia and serves as Assistant Dean.
• A PETRONAS grant worth more than RM1 million supports solar powered conversion of carbon dioxide from flaring at onshore gas terminals.
• PETRONAS selected 61 projects from 588 applicants across 25 universities.
• CONNECT targets a working prototype that produces hydrogen from sunlight by mid 2026.
• Research includes hydrogen from water, carbon dioxide to methanol and other chemicals, and plastic waste upcycling.
• Two dimensional heterostructures, Z scheme and S scheme designs, and MXenes help manage light absorption, charge movement and reactions.
• Palm sector waste research includes graphene and green hydrogen, with a reported patent involving biomethane.
• Efficiency, durability, product separation, cost and safe gas handling remain central engineering tasks.
• The work connects with Malaysia's 2050 net zero goal and a longer term vision for rural energy access.