Dr. Ward van der Stam

Tenure Track Assistant Professor
Employed since: June 2019
Phone: +31622736090
Email: w.vanderstam@uu.nl
Room: 4.86

Research

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

 

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