CAREER: Harnessing Chemistry and Disorder to Activate Oxygen Electrocatalysis

With the support of the Chemical Catalysis program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Ivan A. Moreno-Hernandez of Duke University is studying strategies to improve electrocatalysts during the electrochemical production of valuable chemicals. The project will employ the synthesis and manipulation of metal oxide nanocrystals to explore chemical effects on catalysis and to improve catalytic properties. State-of-the-art methods that enable the observation of catalytic particles in liquid environments with transmission electron microscopy will be utilized to understand the formation of reactive species on individual nanocrystals. The research will advance next-generation catalysts and transform society by enabling sustainable chemical infrastructures using clean energy sources. The project integrates research in catalysis, electrochemistry, electron microscopy, and data science approaches to train students at all levels with a multidisciplinary skillset. The project will integrate research and education for English- and Spanish-speaking students through curricula that emphasizes electrocatalysis to train the next generation of STEM workers in sustainable chemistry. With the support of the Chemical Catalysis program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Ivan A. Moreno-Hernandez of Duke University is studying strategies to improve iridium oxide-based nanocrystal electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction. Understanding the catalytic properties of nanocrystals remains a challenge due to the wide property dispersion among nanocrystals, and the lack of techniques to probe individual catalyst particle structures during catalysis. A central hypothesis that this project will explore is that compositional and dynamic disorder within otherwise pristine electrocatalysts could unlock new catalytic capabilities. The project will explore the influence of nanocrystal chemistry and disorder on catalytic performance, reaction intermediate binding energies, and active site restructuring via techniques that bridge spatiotemporal length scales. Single electrocatalyst particles will be observed at atomic resolution during catalysis with liquid phase transmission electron microscopy. The project can transform the frontiers of catalysis science by advancing strategies to design active electrocatalysts and obtaining knowledge of active sites that unify experiment and theory via a common spatiotemporal scale. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.