Speaker: Shan Hu, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Iowa State University
Title: Highly Efficient Earth-abundant Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Generation via Water Splitting
Abstract: Water electrolysis using electricity generated from renewable sources is a CO2-emission free process for hydrogen production. During electrolysis of water, electrical voltage is applied to two electrodes inserted in aqueous electrolyte and two half reactions, i.e. the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), occur on the positive and negative electrodes respectively. To reduce the energy consumption of water electrolysis, electrocatalysts are applied to the electrodes to reduce the reaction potential needed to drive each half reaction. Current water electrolysis systems use precious metals, such as platinum, iridium, and ruthenium, as catalysts. The high cost and scarcity of these catalysts make it economically inviable to scale up the electrolysis system for large-scale hydrogen production. In this talk, the speaker will present three synthetic strategies that lead to highly efficient earth abundant electrocatalysts for OER and HER, namely the electronic structure modulation by anion-doping, the surface reconstruction by anion-leaching, and the metal-organic-framework templated synthesis.
Bio: Dr. Shan Hu is the William and Virginia Binger Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Iowa State University. She obtained her PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Her research interests include electrochemical and thermal energy storage and conversion, energy materials, and nanomanufacturing. Her paper on paper-based flexible ultracapacitors was recognized as one of the highly cited papers in the journal Applied Physics Letters in 2012. She receives the National Science Foundation CAREER award, the ISU College of Engineering Black & Veatch Building a World of Difference Faculty Fellowship, and the Matthew J. Huber Award for Research Excellence from the University of Minnesota.
Seminar Host: Xiaoli Tan