RESEARCH AREAS
Electrochemistry | Transport Phenomena | Catalysis | Ion-Conducting Polymers
One of the great scientific feats that must be achieved this century is the decarbonization of chemical manufacturing, which accounts for 25% of greenhouse gas emissions emitted annually. My work aims to use continuum simulations and electrochemical reaction engineering to assist in the development of cost-effective and efficient devices and materials that can address this challenge by using renewable energy to power the conversion of abundant feedstocks such as water, air, or carbon dioxide to the chemical commodities and fuels typically produced by unsustainable means.
Advanced architectures for electrochemical synthesis
In recent years, electrochemical synthesis of hydrocarbon fuels or industrially relevant chemicals from abundant feedstocks (i.e., waste CO2, air, or water) has demonstrated the potential to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and provide a method of storing and utilizing renewably sourced energy. Many electrochemical devices have been developed to perform electrochemical synthesis. However, most are limited in their application due to significant performance issues caused by low catalyst utilization, poor water management, poor selectivity to valuable products, and general efficiency losses. This work aims to evaluate a variety of advanced device architectures (membrane electrode assemblies, tailored catalyst environments, etc.) through a combination of experiments and multiphysics simulation to develop an electrochemical synthesis with optimal efficiency, selectivity, and lifetime.
Bipolar membranes for electrolysis and electrosynthesis
Due to their unique ability to maintain an applied pH gradient, BPMs hold immense potential to be an integral component in next generation devices for electrosynthesis. By enabling the operation of a device under two-distinct microenvironments, BPMs facilitate optimal catalysis and mass transport for each of the individual half-reaction in an electrosynthesis architecture. Additionally, recent study has shown that the pH swings induced by BPMs can be used to liberate carbon dioxide from aqueous carbon capture solutions. My research centers around implementing BPMs into an MEA-enabled device for electrochemical CO2 reduction and capture, as well as developing a theoretical framework for simulating critical phenomena (salt-ion crossover, water dissociation, in situ CO2 generation) in BPMs.
Devices for seawater electrolysis and carbon capture
The electrolysis of water to hydrogen fuel is a powerful technique to overcome the intermittency of current renewable energy technologies, and the ocean presents an untapped source of water for this chemical transformation. Unfortunately, standard water electrolyzers are intolerant of the impurities present in the ocean, and the evolution of chlorine gas at the anode presents a significant ecological concern for direct seawater electrolysis. Additionally, a substantial concern in carbon capture technologies is the fight against mass transfer for direct air capture, in which CO2 is only available at 400 ppm. Carbon species are one hundred times more concentrated in oceanwater, and recent work has shown electrochemical technologies can liberate CO2 from seawater. Leveraging my understanding of bipolar membranes and electrolysis devices, my research in this field focuses on developing cost-effective architectures capable of producing hydrogen or capturing carbon from the sea.