Bifunctional Hybrid Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Evolution and Oxygen Reduction Reactions

This project aims to create transition metal perovskite/Nitrogen-doped Carbon electrospun nanofibres as alternative cost-efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts to replace noble metals for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in energy conversion (PEM fuel cells and water electrolysers) and storage (metal-air batteries) devices. At the same time, I will develop new in situ studies that will allow a deeper understanding of the structure-property relationships allowing for further optimisation.
The search for green alternative sources of energy is of great importance for our current society. In order to battle increasing greenhouse gases and global warming created by the use of fossil fuels, and to meet the UK's 2050 climate change targets, we need to develop new technologies that allow researchers to tackle this problem. Some of these alternatives include fuel cells, solar cells, batteries, supercapacitors and water electrolysers. OER and ORR are key processes taking place in most of these technologies and will be the focus of this project. The high cost of the noble metal catalysts employed in energy conversion and storage devices is one of the major drawbacks to their full development and exploitation. There are many reports new materials that can overcome state-of-the-art limitations at an acceptable cost. However, not much research has been done to understand the effect of nanostructuring, hybridisation between various electrochemically active materials and understanding the structure-property relationships to allow an improved performance.
In this project, I will design hybrid materials combining already known transition metal perovskite electrocatalysts with nitrogen-doped carbons electrocatalysts using the electrospinning technique. These new hybrid nanostructures will be characterised using state-of-the-art techniques. I will also design in operando studies combining structural and property coupled measurements. The electrocatalytic activity of perovskites is thought to be due to the presence of oxygen vacancies in their structure. By combining Raman spectroscopy and OER and ORR measurements, we will be able to monitor the changes in the oxygen vacancies of the perovskites (detected by Raman spectroscopy) as their electrochemical performance is evaluated. A similar approach will be developed using X-ray computed tomography, which will provide invaluable information about the complex structures and interactions involved in the catalytic process at the different structural levels of organisation and integrated within real devices. This will be correlated with the electrocatalytic activity of N-doped carbon materials studied by X-Ray Adsorption studies and the synergy between these two electrocatalysts understood. This will lead to a better understanding of the parameters influencing the activity of these materials in relation to their structure and also to the device environment and will facilitate a better electrode engineering.
This project will be conducted at the Materials Research Institute (MRI), Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). The MRI brings together a range of expertise with different schools including Engineering and Materials, Physics and Astronomy, Biological and Chemical Sciences, and Dentistry, providing a platform to support interdisciplinary materials research. I maintain a close collaboration with the Electrochemical Innovation Lab (Chemical Engineering Department, UCL) which will provide access to X-ray computed tomography and industrial links to test the new materials at scaled-up dimensions. Coupled structure-property studies will be carried out in collaboration with Dr. Ozlem Sel and Dr. Ivan Lucas, from Laboratoire Interfaces Systemes Electrochimiques (LISE, CNRS, Paris, Sorbonne Universites). An internal collaboration with Prof. Titirici group at MRI-QMUL working on N-doped carbon electrocatalysis will complement these collaborations.

This project will have great impact on society and economy through the design of oxygen electrocatalysts for sustainable, energy-efficient devices.The UK Energy White paper and the first RCUK Review of Energy evidence the importance of this area for UK.Important benefits to society can be foreseen since this project will contribute to reduce the cost of the materials used in energy technologies.Specifically,I will research alternative materials to noble metals for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR).The approaches proposed here to design and prepare OER/ORR electrocatalysts using electrospinning will lead to a potential step-change in energy conversion and storage technologies, with huge associated impact.A project of this size cannot be expected to directly impact global energy policy in isolation.However,by seeking collaborations with academics and industry, this research aims to contribute to solve energy problems facing the world, through designing and engineering hybrid electroactive materials for energy devices at an acceptable cost.
1)Societal impact:This project will increase community consciousness about the importance of the contribution of society to reduce gas emissions by adopting environmentally friendly habits.Actions to engage general public will involve:(i)lectures and workshops at schools to provide teachers with exciting educational materials they can use, to make them aware of renewable energy alternatives to fight global warming;(ii)to involve undergraduate students in energy research by organising lab demonstrations on how a battery,fuel cell or water electrolyser works preceded by a short theoretical explanation and their benefit;(iii)to disseminate results in journals directed to a general audience.Experiments and workshops will be explained in a didactic way through series of demonstrations,internet and public lectures.Some of the funding allocated to Impact (£8,000) will be used to support these activities.Engagement activities will be conducted through workshops and interactive seminars.QMUL has created a Centre for Public Engagement,which will provide advice and support for engagement activities.
2)Economic impact:This project will involve a proof of concept stage,testing of the materials in PEM fuel cell,PEM water electrolyser,and metal-ion battery devices,operating in real world conditions.To achieve this, the close collaboration I keep with the UCL Electrochemical Innovation Lab and industrial partners (ITM Power and PV3) will be extremely valuable and will be a pathway to impact.This will be very useful to obtain inputs on performance and stability metrics to target and planning scale-up approaches.Additional industrial contacts will be made through industry bodies such as the UK Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association (http://www.ukhfca.co.uk/) and KTNs.Additionally,funds could be available through the Innovate UK projects (https://projects.innovateuk.org/),based on the commercial promise of my new materials.STFC also funds different projects (http://www.stfc.ac.uk/funding/) and covers costs of travel and research developed at national facilities.
3)Academic impact:Results will be published in scientific journals and conferences.I will join the Supergen network to promote collaborations.The impact of publications and technology advances will be promoted by the use of media press releases,and use social media to disseminate research news.This project will link chemistry syntheses,processing and characterisation techniques along with engineering and testing of energy conversion and storage devices,combining joint efforts from which researchers and students can benefit.PhD,master students,and postdoctoral researchers will benefit from a multidisciplinary research taking place at the interface between chemical engineering,chemistry and material science to develop new relevant materials for replacing noble metals in current energy conversion and storage technologies.