UTFacultiesTNWDept NEMResearchIMSThesis assignmentsFine-Tuning the Chemical Composition of High Entropy Oxides for Enhanced Electrochemical Water Oxidation

Fine-Tuning the Chemical Composition of High Entropy Oxides for Enhanced Electrochemical Water Oxidation

Project motivation: Water splitting, which involves separation of water molecule into hydrogen and oxygen, is a promising approach to produce renewable green hydrogen on a large scale in future. To obtain sufficient and steady hydrogen output, it is crucial to develop highly active and stable electrocatalysts based on non-precious and earth abundant components. High Entropy Oxide (HEO) is a new type of material which usually contains five or more components. Because of the composition complexity and thereby elevated synergetic effects, high entropy oxides can exhibit many peculiar physical and chemical properties compared to their simple oxide counterparts.  Among these, superior water oxidation activity was reported for the HEOs which was comprised of widely available elements such as Cr, Co, Ni, Fe and Mn. Currently, most studies on HEOs for water oxidation focus on compositions of constitutes components in equimolar ratios; the impact of compositional variance on the activity and stability of the HEO-catalysts remains largely elusive.  The aim of this project is to elucidate the relationship between the composition and electrocatalytic properties of HEOs, with the goal of identifying compounds with finely tuned chemical compositions that exhibit even higher performance.

Project goal: identify composition-activity trends as input for future catalyst design

Role of student: we are seeking highly motivated students with a background in Chemistry, Material science or Nanotechnology to fulfil the following key tasks, including but not limited to

Figure Schematic illustration of high entropy perovskite oxide electrocatalyst for water electrolysis

Contact information:
Dr. Chris. Baeumer  c.baeumer@utwente.nl
Dr. Shu Ni s.ni@utwente.nl