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Single entity electrochemical imaging of materials for green energy
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Wahab, Oluwasegun Joseph (2022) Single entity electrochemical imaging of materials for green energy. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.
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Official URL: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b3902149
Abstract
Single entity electrochemical imaging of materials for green energy
Surfaces of electromaterials used in diverse green energy technologies are structurally complex and have nanometric defining units. Typical macroscale electrochemical characterizations give averaged responses of such surfaces and do not fully explain the effects of surface heterogeneity. Hence, this PhD project engages state-of-the-art scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM) to investigate structure – electrochemistry relationships at the single entity level for selected green energy electromaterials. Starting with indium tin oxide (ITO), a popular support electrode for single entity studies, with relevant applications in photovoltaic systems and electrocatalysis, SECCM combined with finite element modelling allows addressing a knowledge gap in ITO nanoscale electrochemistry in relation to macroscale. Furthermore, the project brings to the fore, the huge mass transport limitations that exist in macroscale configurations and the underutilization of active sites of electrically conductive metal-organic frameworks for oxygen reduction reaction. The project then extends SECCM in a correlative microscopy approach to investigate electrochemical CO2 reduction (eCO2RR) on model polycrystalline Cu and Au catalysts. On Cu, this approach reveals the eCO2RR trend among 60 secondary crystallographic orientations, showing the correlation of eCO2RR activity to surface steps and kinks. On Au, the study unveils the actual microstructural origin of enhanced eCO2RR at grain-boundaries between lattice strain and dislocation density. Lastly, SECCM in correlated multi-microscopy approach allows to resolve a long-standing unclarity on the precise site and mechanism of proton conductivity in non-defective graphene membranes. Overall, this project provides key guiding principles for rationally synthesizing next-generation green energy electromaterials and highlights vital considerations for designing highly efficient (electro)catalysts.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) | ||||
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Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor Q Science > QD Chemistry |
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Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Clean energy -- Technological innovations, Electrochemistry -- Materials, Electrocatalysis, Scanning electrochemical microscopy | ||||
Official Date: | September 2022 | ||||
Dates: |
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Institution: | University of Warwick | ||||
Theses Department: | Department of Chemistry | ||||
Thesis Type: | PhD | ||||
Publication Status: | Unpublished | ||||
Supervisor(s)/Advisor: | Unwin, Patrick R. | ||||
Format of File: | |||||
Extent: | xxvi, 217 pages : illustrations, charts | ||||
Language: | eng |
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