Catalysis

1. Electrocatalysts for Water Splitting

Electrolysis of water is one of the most efficient and environmentally friendly methods to generate hydrogen gas, a chemical fuel with ultrahigh gravimetric energy density. High-efficiency, low-cost and stable catalysts are required for both cathode and anode to reduce the activation energy barriers for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Both HER and OER are multi-electron transfer process in which the multi-step elementary reactions create significant energy barriers. Reduction of HER/OER overpotential is, therefore, the key to high-efficiency water splitting. We seek to develop inexpensive, potent and robust electrocatalysts for water splitting.

Ni Foam Supported Fe-doped β-Ni(OH)2 Nanosheets Shows Ultralow Overpotential for Oxygen Evolution Reaction, ACS Energy Lett., 4, 622-628 (2019)

Theoretical and Experimental Insight into the Effect of Nitrogen Doping on Hydrogen Evolution Activity of Ni3S2 in Alkaline Medium, Adv. Energy Mater., 1703538 (2018)