Webinar Series for GlobH2E, co-hosted by the Powerfuels including Hydrogen Network of the NSW Decarbonisation Innovation Hub.
Abstract
The need to develop highly efficient catalysts to improve electrochemical performance is growing significantly due to the ever-increasing demand for energy conversion devices in the last few decades. Electrochemical water electrocatalysis for hydrogen production is one of the representatives for the next-generation energy conversion. However, the electrochemical performance is still not satisfying to be potentially used in industrial applications. Here, I present our research on catalyst engineering strategies for energy conversion reactions, including electronic structure engineering and atomically dispersed metal engineering. For instance, we show the stable construction of atomically dispersed precious metal-based catalysts, which exhibit maximum efficiency towards the electrochemical performances of hydrogen production. The in-situ exfoliated MXene coupled with Pt single atoms showed high hydrogen generation performance with a mass activity more than 40 times higher than the commercial Pt/C. Most recently, our work on constructing electrocatalysts in the condition of acidic environments and sea water display excellent performance for hydrogen production. Here, recent highlights regarding the engineering strategies, electrocatalysts and their applications will be presented.
Our Speaker: Dr Yufei Zhao
Dr Yufei Zhao is currently a Lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). Dr. Zhao received her BS from Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) and dual PhD degrees from UTS and BIT. Since her graduation in 2018, she has worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at UTS and the University of New South Wales (UNSW). In 2021, she joined Shanghai University as an associate professor. During her work at Shanghai University, she was a visiting professor at the University of Toronto. Her research interest focuses on the synthesis and application of atomically dispersed catalysts, precious metal alloys, high entropy materials, perovskite oxides, etc., for energy conversion reactions, including water splitting, fuel cells and CO2 reduction reactions. Dr. Zhao has published 52 publications and 2 patents - 26 research papers as first/corresponding author and 26 research papers as co-author in prestigious international journals in the field of energy conservation and storage research area, including Nat. Catal., Nat. Commun., Sci. Adv., Angew. Chem. Inter. Ed., Adv. Mater., J. Am. Chem. Soc., Chem. Soc. Rev., etc. Her publications have attracted more than 5,800 citations with a h-index of 35. She also serves as an Editorial board member for “Micromaterials and Interfaces” and Guest Editor for the journals “Energies”, “Materials” and “Discover Chemical Engineering”.