Nanoseminar in Chemistry & Materials

IN PRESENCE EVENT - REGISTER HERE to attend

Speaker: Prof. Ifan E.L. Stephens, Imperial College London, United Kingdom

Abstract: Electrochemistry will play a pivotal role in our transition away from fossil fuels to a net zero society. While batteries and fuel cells are set to decarbonise transportation, electrolysers can enable the sustainable synthesis of our most coveted chemicals, such as H2 and NH3. It turns out that some of the reactions that we aim to accelerate in water electrolysis, such as H2 evolution, are exactly the reactions that we wish to inhibit in Li ion batteries and during N2 reduction. To that end, in our group we translate techniques and insight from electrosynthesis to battery science and vice versa.

I will present our mechanistic studies on the electrocatalysis of (i) O2 evolution for water electrolysis on iridium based oxides1,2 and (ii) N2 reduction to NH3 in organic electrolytes3-5 (iii) parasitic gas evolution in Li ion batteries.6

Our studies incorporate electrochemical measurements, electrochemical mass spectrometry, operando optical spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry, cryo electron microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory; using the combination of these techniques, we build a holistic picture of the factors controlling these technologically critical reactions.

Biography:  Ifan Stephens is a Professor in Electrochemistry at the Department of Materials at Imperial College London. His group’s research aims to enable the large-scale electrochemical conversion of renewable energy to fuels and valuable chemicals and vice versa. Such processes will be critical in order to allow the increased uptake of renewable energy. Ifan has published >90 papers on topics including oxygen reduction, oxygen evolution, CO2 reduction and nitrogen reduction. Stephens is the recipient of several awards including the Peabody Visiting Associate Professorship from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2015), European Research Council Consolidator Grant (2021), the Royal Society of Chemistry’s John Jeyes Award for his work on hydrogen peroxide production (2021) and the Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher list (2022 and 2023). Ifan’s research on H2O2 electrosynthesis led to the establishment of the spinout HPNow, which he co-founded; it has raised over €30 million in funding and now sells electrolysers in 15 countries.

Introductory Talk: "A brief introduction of electrochemistry for Power-to-X" by Dr Camilo Arturo Mesa, Senior Postdoctoral Researcher at NanoElectrocatalysis and Sustainable Chemistry Group at ICN2.

Hosted by Prof. Maria Escudero Escribano, NanoElectrocatalysis and Sustainable Chemistry Group Leader at ICN2

A coffee service will be available at the room for attendees.

References: 

1 Liang, C., Rao, R. R., Svane, K., Hadden, J. H. L., Moss, B., Scott, S. B., Sachs, M., Murawski, J., Frandsen, A., Riley, D. J., Ryan, M. P., Rossmeisl, J., Durrant, J. R. & Stephens, I. E. L. Research Square Archive Journal, (2023).

2 Bozal-Ginesta, C., Rao, R. R., Mesa, C. A., Wang, Y. X., Zhao, Y. Y., Hu, G. F., Anton-Garcia, D., Stephens, I. E. L., Reisner, E., Brudvig, G. W., Wang, D. W. & Durrant, J. R. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 144, 8454, (2022).

3 Westhead, O., Jervis, R. & Stephens, I. E. L. Science 372, 1149, (2021).

4 Spry, M., Westhead, O., Tort, R., Moss, B., Katayama, Y., Titirici, M.-M., Stephens, I. E. L. & Bagger, A. ACS Energy Letters, 1230, (2023).

5 Tort, R., Bagger, A., Westhead, O., Kondo, Y., Khobnya, A., Winiwarter, A., Davies, B. J. V., Walsh, A., Katayama, Y., Yamada, Y., Ryan, M. P., Titirici, M.-M. & Stephens, I. E. L. ACS Catalysis 13, 14513, (2023).

6 Thornton, D. B., Davies, B. J. V., Scott, S. B., Aguadero, A., Ryan, M. P. & Stephens, I. E. L. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, e202315357, (https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202315357).