Dr. Ward van der Stam

Research

Structure-function relationships of CO₂ reduction electrocatalysts at work

The electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ into hydrocarbon fuels, like methane or ethylene, is regarded as a promising strategy to address one of the main current environmental issues: reducing the CO₂ footprint of our society. However, improvements in activity, selectivity and stability of the developed electrocatalysts are crucial in order to implement electrocatalysis on a large scale. Colloidal synthesis of metal nanoparticles offers a versatile strategy to boost the activity (large surface area) and selectivity (selective facet exposure) of the CO₂ reduction reaction, but is limited by nanoparticle destabilization under reaction conditions. Therefore, detailed characterization over multiple length- and timescales is required to elucidate the reaction mechanism of CO₂ reduction electrocatalysts at work

Our research focuses on (1) the synthesis of colloidal metal electrocatalyst nanoparticles with well-defined sizes, shapes and compositions (e.g. nanorods or nanoplatelets), (2) in situ vibrational spectroscopy to study the adsorbed intermediates at the catalyst surface in space and time, and (3) in situ X-ray characterization (diffraction, spectroscopy, scattering) to elucidate the structure of the electrocatalyst under working conditions (Figure 1). Our main interest lies in unravelling structure-function relationships by performing in situ X-ray diffraction and scattering experiments, as well as in situspectroscopy measurements. Colloidal nanomaterials are ideally suited for structure-function relationships, since they can be prepared with atomic precision in solution. This not only allows us to deposit them on various electrodes, but also characterize the size, shape and faceting during the reaction and use these parameters to direct the formation of value-added chemicals, such as C_>2 hydrocarbons. These in situ characterization techniques will give valuable fundamental, but also practical insights into the exact reaction mechanism of the CO₂ reduction reaction and the (de)activation of the electrocatalyst nanoparticles, which will allow us to rationally design the ultimate electrocatalyst.

Figure 1. (left) Colloidal nanostructures ooffer a versatile strategy to steer the CO₂ reduction reaction. (middle) in situ vibrational spectroscopy (Raman and Infrared) sheds light on adsorbed reaction intermediates at the catalyst surface. (right) in situ X-ray characterization is utilized to unravel the structure (size, shape, faceting, composition) of the colloidal electrocatalysts under working conditions and elucidate (de)stabilization parameters. The obtained information from these three pillars will be used to design the ultimate active, selective and stable nanoparticle electrocatalyst

CV

Tenure Track Assistant Professor (June 2019 – Present), Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Postdoctoral Researcher (March 2019 – June 2019), Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Research topics: Electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 with colloidal metal nanoparticles, under the supervision of prof. dr. ir. Bert M. Weckhuysen

Postdoctoral Researcher (October 2016 – February 2019), Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

Research topics: Electrochemical doping of semiconductor nanocrystals, (spectro)electrochemistry, ultrafast

spectroscopy, in-situ EXAFS, synthesis of colloidal perovskite nanoplatelets, streak camera measurements, charge transfer and excited state dynamics, transient absorption spectroscopy, under the supervision of dr. Arjan Houtepen and dr. Ferdinand Grozema

PhD student (October 2012 – September 2016), Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Thesis entitled: Tailoring on the nanoscale: control over size, shape, composition and self-assembly of copper chalcogenide nanocrystals

Research topics: Nanocrystal synthesis, cation exchange, self-assembled superstructures, optical spectroscopy, in-situ X-ray scattering, Electron Microscopy, under the supervision of dr. Celso de Mello Donegá and prof. dr. Andries Meijerink

MSc Chemistry & Physics (September 2010 – October 2012), Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Thesis entitled: Colloidal Nanostructures for Application in Quantum Dot Sensitized Solar Cells, under the supervision of dr. Celso de Mello Donegá

MSc Internship(March 2012 – September 2012), Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy

Internship report entitled: Control over different colloidal nanocrystal syntheses; size, shape and properties, under the supervision of prof. dr. Liberato Manna

BSc Chemistry (September 2007 – September 2010), Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Thesis entitled: Quantum Dot Sensitized Solar Cells, under the supervision of dr. Esther Groeneveld and dr. Celso de Mello Donegá

Born in Nieuwegein, The Netherlands 1989

@article{Srivastava20234690,

title = {In situ spatiotemporal characterization and analysis of chemical reactions using an ATR-integrated microfluidic reactor},

author = { K. Srivastava and N.D. Boyle and G.T. Flaman and B. Ramaswami and A. van den Berg and W. van der Stam and I.J. Burgess and M. Odijk},

url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85174524108&doi=10.1039%2fd3lc00521f&partnerID=40&md5=275477db76b50cda392194fce4ccc9c6},

doi = {10.1039/d3lc00521f},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-01-01},

journal = {Lab on a Chip},

volume = {23},

number = {21},

pages = {4690 – 4700},

note = {Cited by: 0; All Open Access, Hybrid Gold Open Access},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{VanDerStam2022,

title = {The Necessity for Multiscale In Situ Characterization of Tailored Electrocatalyst Nanoparticle Stability †},

author = { W. Van Der Stam},

url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85145991987&doi=10.1021%2facs.chemmater.2c03286&partnerID=40&md5=b3bf2af3ec65a648b558fabba26884be},

doi = {10.1021/acs.chemmater.2c03286},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-01-01},

journal = {Chemistry of Materials},

note = {cited By 0},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

Other publications

See earlier publications on Scopus.