Optimizing hydrogen fuel cells by understanding the atomic structure of nano-catalysts
Humankind is in the midst of a climate emergency, due in large part to anthropogenic carbon emissions. One technology which is posed to play a key role in the decarbonisation of industrialised nations is the hydrogen fuel cell, which will enable clean combustion for transportation and energy generation. However current technologies are not yet efficient enough to be economically viable.
A critical component in both the generation of hydrogen and in the operation of fuel cells are the catalysts used to lower the energy barriers to the chemical reactions involved. The precise atomic and chemical structure of these catalyst materials has profound impact on their catalytic activity. If we can understand the relationship between atomic structure and catalytic activity, we can dramatically improve the efficiency of hydrogen generation and fuel cell operation, therefore reducing the cost of this technology.
In this proposed PhD project, the successful PhD candidate will work closely with scientists at the Department of Materials (Dr. Chris Allen, Prof. Pete Nellist), Diamond Light Source (Dr. Mohsen Danaie) and Johnson Matthey Plc. a world leading, and UK based green sustainable technology company (Dr Manfred Schuster). Novel techniques using cutting edge transmission electron microscopy will be developed to determine the three-dimensional atomic and chemical structure of the catalyst materials over many thousands of catalyst particles. This will enable an unprecedented statistical description of the atomic structure of nano-catalyst and inform the development of new super-efficient catalysts for next-generation fuel cells.
