Màster de Química de Materials Aplicada

A càrrec de la Dra. María Escudero, Professora  i Investigadora ICREA a L´Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia (ICN2), Barcelona

Títol de la xerrada: Tailored Electrocatalytic Interfaces and Materials for Renewable Energy Conversion

Lloc dia, i hora: Aula Magna Enric Casassas, Divendres, 7 de Novembre de 2025, 12:00 h

Abstract:

Tailoring and elucidating the structure of electrocatalytically active sites at the atomic and molecular levels is key to design advanced and functional nanomaterials for sustainable energy conversion. This seminar will discuss recent strategies to investigate and tune both active site and electrolyte engineering. These strategies are essential optimise the structure-property relationships for different electrocatalytic reactions of interest to produce renewable fuels and chemicals. We are combining electrochemical methods, surface-science techniques, in-situ vibrational spectroscopy, and electrochemical scanning probe microscopy to understand the mechanism of emerging sustainable reactions. Some electrocatalytic reactions of interest include oxygen evolution for green hydrogen production, along with electrochemical carbon dioxide, nitrate and methane conversion into sustainable fuels and chemicals. In this talk, I will present our studies on well-defined Cu-based surfaces to assess the interfacial properties for the electrochemical CO2reduction reaction. I will discuss some strategies to investigate the molecular mechanisms of emerging electrosynthesis processes. These reactions include the electrochemical nitrate reduction to produce ammonia, electrochemical C-N coupling for urea production, and electrochemical methane conversion to produce liquid fuels such as methanol.