(2fj) Engineering Electrocatalytic Systems for Producing Value-Added Chemicals

I am a Ph.D. student working with Prof. Karthish Manthiram and Prof. Yuriy Román in the Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT. I will be completing my doctoral study in the Summer of 2023. As a chemical engineer, I am motivated to provide sustainable solutions for reducing energy use and carbon footprints in current chemical processes. In my doctoral study, I have worked on electrochemical olefin epoxidation, focusing on kinetic studies and catalyst development. In my postdoctoral study, I would like to take a closer look at the electrified solid-liquid interface for a better understanding of the complex interactions between species that will lead to informed engineering of the catalytic system.

Research Interests

A heterogeneous electrochemical process that can drive chemical transformation under ambient conditions presents an attractive alternative to the existing thermochemical methods. Although electrochemistry can provide environmentally friendly and safe routes to produce value-added chemicals, most of these routes are not economically viable due to low selectivity and rate. A comprehensive understanding of the reaction environment will guide us to efficiently improve the process. However, the electrode-electrolyte interactions are rather complex. For example, multiple roles of electrolyte species and the micro-scale effect of the electric field near the surface are often not well understood, and these answers may differ depending on the specific catalytic system. In my postdoctoral study, I hope to reduce this knowledge gap for achieving the ultimate goal of high-performance electrocatalytic systems that produce value-added chemicals. I would like to design experiments that can probe a detailed molecular-level picture of how solvents interact with substrates at the electrode-electrolyte interface. Furthermore, I am interested in collaborating with synchrotron facilities to leverage more specialized spectroscopy techniques that are underexplored for electrocatalytic systems.

Ph.D. Research

My thesis research has focused on understanding the mechanism of chlorine-mediated and direct electrochemical olefin oxidation at heterogeneous electrocatalysts. I combined electrochemical kinetic rate measurements and in situ/operando spectroscopic measurements (XAS, Raman) to understand the state and behavior of electrocatalyst under reaction conditions. This understanding steered me into the development of new electrocatalysts that show increased selectivity and activity toward olefin epoxidation. Moreover, I honed my skills in inorganic material synthesis and characterization throughout the catalyst development process.