Nithin Jacob, from the research group LCP, presented his poster at the MATSUS conference on ‘Materials for sustainable development’ in Barcelona, Spain. Direct Z-scheme heterojunctions named after their charge transfer mechanism, use sunlight to conduct various photocatalytic reactions, similar to photosynthesis in plants. It is a promising candidate that can be used for CO₂ reduction reactions. Solar cell simulation techniques can be used to obtain material properties and insights into the electronic characteristics of these materials. By solving semiconductor differential equations that model the behavior of semiconductors under different light intensities and applied biases, the solar cell simulator program (SCAPS) can evaluate the energy band edges, carrier concentrations, and output characteristics of the device. In this study, various materials are simulated that could be used as direct Z-scheme junctions that can reduce CO₂ to methanol. These materials are modelled direct Z-scheme junctions in SCAPS by simulating the Shockley Read Hall (SRH) recombination using defect densities at the interface of the recombination junction (RJ). An initial screening methodology of Z-scheme junctions that can conduct the CO₂ reduction to methanol is presented.