WHAT WE DO
Carbondioxide Reduction Reaction
Photocatalysis
Dry Reforming Reaction
Gas Solid
Reaction
Thin Film Development
Carbondioxide Reduction Reaction
Electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) is a promising strategy to mitigate energy and environmental problems, by converting CO2 to valuable fuels. This approach allows the transformation of isolated sources of energy into high-energy chemicals, thereby reducing our dependence on the fossil fuels. The research trend in the area is directed towards the development of heterogeneous catalysts to improve the electrocatalytic activity. The CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) driven by renewable energies is a promising approach to close the carbon cycle and derive fuels from CO2.
Dry reforming Reaction
Dry reforming of methane (DRM) has become an attractive research area because it converts two major greenhouse gases into syngas (CO and H2), which can be directly used as fuel or feedstock for the chemical industry. Ni-based catalysts have been extensively used for DRM because of its low cost and good activity. A major concern with Ni-based catalysts in DRM is severe carbon deposition leading to catalyst deactivation, and a lot of effort has been put into the design and synthesis of stable Ni catalysts with high carbon resistance. One effective strategy is to introduce a second metal to obtain bimetallic Ni-based catalysts. The synergistic effect between Ni and the second metal will increase the carbon resistance of the catalyst significantly.
Hydrogen Evolution Reaction
The zero emission future fuel, hydrogen can be produced by water splitting, but requires efficient and stable electro-catalysts. At a thermodynamic potential of 1.23V, water splits to give hydrogen at cathode and oxygen at anode. Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) occurs either through Volmer-Heyrovsky reaction or Volmer-Tafel reaction. For a lower over potential and economics of reaction, composites of transition metal, their oxides, phosphides and sulphides are being studied for their electrochemical activity.
Thin Film Development
Thin film technology enables growth of coherent mono or multilayer of thin film with quite large surface area. By tuning its thickness, we can modify its crystallinity and morphology to some extent. Semi-transparent thin films are beneficial in photo electrocatalysis. Sol-Gel synthesis followed by spin coating is used in our lab for thin film preparation.