Join the Department of Chemical Engineering for a seminar by Dr. Yuyan Shao on the use of platinum group metal-free electrocatalysts to meet the global demand for renewable energy.
Abstract
Electrocatalysis uses the electron potential to control the directions and rates of chemical processes, providing the possibility to drive chemical transformations under ambient temperature and ambient pressure in an eco-friendly way. The interconversion of chemical and electrical energy also provides a flexible and scalable solution to store energy in chemical bonds and retrieve this energy wherever and whenever needed, which is becoming more and more important as the penetration of renewable energy increases rapidly.
Electrocatalysts, which conventionally consist of precious metals (or platinum group metals, PGM), are one of the most critical materials (if not THE most important) in this process, but are limited by their prices and resource. In order to meet global demand in the future, PGM-free electrocatalysts have to be developed.
In this seminar, Dr. Shao will discuss a few examples of using earth-abundant materials for hydrogen production and fuel cells, including PGM-free electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction in neutral pH solutions and seawater, PGM-free catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction in proton exchange membrane fuel cells.
Biographical Sketch
Dr. Yuyan Shao is a Senior Scientist and Team Lead for Fundamental Battery Research at the US Department of Energy (DOE) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Before PNNL, he was a postdoctoral Research Associate at Case Western Reserve University. He got his PhD in Applied Chemistry (electrochemistry focus) from Harbin Institute of Technology.
His current research includes fundamental materials chemistry, electrochemical materials and devices for energy applications (e.g., batteries, fuel cells, etc.). He has authored about 150 scientific papers (H-Index=60). He is also an inventor on over 40 patents/patent applications. He has been selected as Thomson Reuters/Clarivate Analytics “Highly Cited Researcher” (2014: Engineering, 2017-2019: Materials Science).
He served as a Guest Editor for the journals Advanced Materials (Special Issue: Materials Electrochemistry for Chemical Transformation) and Nano Energy (Special Issue: Electrocatalysis). He has been serving as symposium organizer for ACS, MRS, ECS annual meetings, and is serving ACS Energy and Fuel Program Chair (Year 2021).