Research Interests

Research in Powerpoint Presentation

My research interests are in the field of Electrochemical Engineering, Electrocatalysis and Interfacial Phenomena with emphasis on electrochemical power sources (direct methanol, ethanol and borohydride fuel cells) and electrosynthesis (e.g., oxygen reduction to hydrogen peroxide and its application for various chemical processes).

Electrochemical science and engineering is at the forefront of many leading edge technologies including electronics, biomedical applications, pollution control and/or prevention by electrochemical methods. A major problem for many electrochemical processes, fuel cells included, relates to electrocatalyst development. This comprises a range of issues including the fundamental understanding of the electrocatalytic activity and reaction mechanism, catalyst synthesis routes and engineering aspects related to incorporation of the electrocatalyst into the electrode structure to assure high catalyst utilization efficiency, low degradation rate and cost effectiveness (i.e., low load of precious metal catalysts).

The areas at the interface of fundamental electrochemistry and engineering, aimed at developing novel nano-structured electrocatalyst preparation methodologies targeting specific catalytic functions and integrating them with various porous electrode designs, is a major focus of my research with the overall objective of developing fuel cells utilizing methanol, ethanol and borohydride. These fuel cells are advantageous low-emission power sources characterized by simpler fuelling infrastructure compared to hydrogen cells (e.g. a reformer for H 2 generation is not required), high theoretical energy densities, the possibility of using renewable resources for fuel production (e.g. bio-ethanol) and convenient scale-down for micro-scale power applications.

As a general methodology my group uses an integrated approach combining fundamental electrochemical and surface analytical studies with engineering investigations using electrochemical cells equipped with porous electrodes.

Significant progress has been achieved in my group regarding nano-scale electrocatalyst (e.g. particles, mesoporous coatings) synthesis and deposition on a variety of substrates and supports by a combination of electrochemical and interfacial chemistry techniques (e.g., micelles, organosols microemulsions, liquid crystalline media). The resulting structures such as catalyst deposited three-dimensional electrodes (e.g. graphite fiber matrixes, reticulated vitreous carbon) showed very promising electrocatalytic activities for the anodic oxidation of methanol, ethanol and borohydride, thus, opening new venues for improved direct fuel cells. Moreover, nano-structured catalyst deposited three-dimensional substrates could be of interest for a variety of applications besides fuel cells such as electrosynthesis, electrochemical pollution control (e.g. oxidation of organic waste effluents) and trickle-bed thermochemical reactors.