IQTC Seminar: Max García-Melchor
Rational Design of Catalytic Materials for Energy Conversion
Tuesday December 19th 2023, 12:00h
Aula Magna Enric Casassas
While fossil fuels have played a pivotal role in shaping modern civilization, their impact on Earth’s climate necessitates urgent action towards developing renewable technologies for decarbonizing our economy. A promising approach to achieving this goal involves the ‘electrification’ of fuel and value-added product syntheses through the integration of electrocatalysis with renewable energy sources like solar or wind power, commonly referred to as ‘power-to-X’ technologies.[1] To turn this vision into reality, it is crucial to employ cost-effective catalysts that can be manufactured on an industrial scale. These catalysts should also demonstrate outstanding activity, selectivity, and stability under relevant reaction conditions. This seminar will delve into our recent research endeavours focused on the rapid and rational design of (photo)(electro)catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction.[2-13] This reaction currently stands as the bottleneck in the widespread commercialization of water electrolyzers for green hydrogen production. Additionally, our research contributions to the light-driven reduction of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide through surface functionalization of quantum dot materials will also be discussed.[14-15]
References
[1] Daiyan, R.; MacGill, I.; Amal, R. ACS Energy Lett. 2020, 5, 3843–3847.
[2] Zhang, B.; Zheng, X.; Voznyy, O.; Comin, R.; Bajdich, M.; García-Melchor, M.; Xu, J.; Liu, M.; et al. Science, 2016, 352, 333-337.
[3] Desmond Ng, J. W.; García-Melchor, M.; Bajdich, M.; Kirk, C.; Chakthranont, P.; Vojvodic, A.; Jaramillo, T. F. Nat. Energ. 2016, 1, 16053.
[4] Tyndall, D.; Craig, M. J.; Gannonb, L.; McGuinness, C.; McEvoy, N.; Royd, A.; García-Melchor, M.; Browne, M. P.; Nicolosi, V. J. Mat. Chem. A, 2023, 11, 4067-4077.
[5] García-Melchor, M.; Vilella, L.; López, N.; Vojvodic, A. ChemCatChem, 2016, 8, 1792–1798.
[6] Craig, M. J.; Coulter, G. O.; Dolan, E. T.; Soriano-López, J.; Mates-Torres, E.; Schmitt, W.; García-Melchor, M. Nat. Commun. 2019, 10, 4993.
[7] Craig, M. J.; Barda-Chatain, R.; García-Melchor, M. J. Catal. 2021, 393, 202–206.
[8] Craig, M. J.; García-Melchor, M. Cell Rep. Phys. Sci. 2021, 2, 100492.
[9] Craig, M. J.; García-Melchor, M. Molecules, 2021, 26, 6362.
[10] Soriano-López, J.; Schmitt, W.; García-Melchor, M. Curr. Opin. Electrochem. 2018, 7, 22–30.
[11] Craig, M. J.; García-Melchor, M. Curr. Opin. Electrochem. 2022, 35, 101044.
[12] Zhang, H; García-Melchor, M. Chem. Catal. 2022, 2, 1835–1837.
[13] Zhang, H; García-Melchor, M. Chem. Catal. 2022, 2, 1835–1837.
[14] Sahm, C.; Mates-Torres, E.; Eliasson, N.; Sokolowski, K.; Wagner, A.; Dalle, K.; Huang, Z.; Scherman, O.; Hammarström, L.; García-Melchor, M.; Reisner, E. Chem. Sci. 2021, 12, 9087.
[15] Sahm, C. D.; Ciotti, A.; Mates-Torres, E.; Badiani, V.; Sokołowski, K.; Neri, G.; Cowan, A. J.; García-Melchor, M.; Reisner, E. Chem. Sci. 2022, 13, 5988.