Research Seminar with Professor Song Jin, USA

Designing Nanostructured Electrocatalysts for Efficient and Selective Electrocatalytic and Photoelectrochemical Conversion of Energy and Chemicals.

Due to the intermittent nature of most renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, practical large-scale renewable energy utilization demands both efficient conversion and large-scale storage, or usage. Earth-abundant but highly active and selective electrocatalysts are needed to enable efficient and sustainable production of energy using electrocatalytic and photoelectrochemical (PEC) energy conversion.

We have developed earth-abundant electrocatalysts such as exfoliated nanosheets of MoS₂ and ternary pyrite-type cobalt phosphosulfide (CoPS), for an efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Exfoliated nanosheets of NiCo and NiFe layered double hydroxides (LDHs) and trimetallic NiFeCr LDH have an enhanced oxygen evolution reaction (OER).

Further, efficient photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation systems that integrate these earth-abundant electrocatalysts with efficient semiconductor materials have been rationally-designed and demonstrated. The increasingly affordable renewable electricity can drive electrochemical production of value-added chemicals. For example, biomass-derived molecules, such as HMF and glycerol can be upgraded to value-added chemicals using metal oxide/hydroxide electrocatalysts.

In this seminar, recent work will be highlighted on combining computations and experiments to demonstrate cobalt pyrite (CoS₂) as a selective catalyst for two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e-ORR) to make H₂O₂.

Importantly, this discovery spurs the search for increasingly-active and selective earth-abundant 2e-ORR electrocatalysts to enable decentralized on-site electrochemical production of H₂O₂ for industrial and environmental applications.

About the speaker