Our Research
Our research lies at the intersection of electrochemistry, materials chemistry, and catalysis, with a focus on understanding and controlling electrode–electrolyte interfaces. We develop electrocatalysts and electrochemical systems for energy conversion, chemical synthesis, and resource-efficient technologies, with particular emphasis on how electrode composition, structure, surface reconstruction, and reaction conditions govern catalytic activity and selectivity.
Green Hydrogen & Water Electrolysis
Hydrogen production by water electrolysis is one of the most direct ways of using renewable electricity to produce a chemical fuel. Our work in this area focuses on developing earth-abundant electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), while paying particular attention to the changes that occur at the catalyst surface during operation.
We are interested not only in improving overpotential, but also in understanding why a particular electrode performs better, how its activity develops during electrolysis, and what limits its long-term operation. Catalyst activation, surface reconstruction, oxidation-state changes, dissolution and redeposition, and the influence of electrolyte composition are therefore important aspects of our studies.
Ultimately, our goal is to move beyond simply identifying highly active materials and toward a better understanding of how catalyst surfaces function under realistic electrolysis conditions. Such understanding is essential for developing electrodes that combine high activity with stability, reproducibility, and practical current densities.
Electrocatalytic Energy & Chemical Conversion
Electrochemistry provides a way of using electrons as reagents to drive chemical transformations. This creates opportunities to produce fuels and chemicals using renewable electricity rather than relying entirely on conventional thermochemical processes.
Our research explores electrocatalytic reactions involving water, small molecules, and renewable feedstocks, with an emphasis on understanding the catalytic processes at the electrode surface. We are particularly interested in reactions where the electrode does more than simply provide electrons. The surface can influence adsorption, intermediate formation, reaction pathways, and ultimately product selectivity. Changes in catalyst composition and surface structure during operation can further alter these processes.
Our work, therefore, combines catalyst development with studies of electrochemical kinetics, reaction intermediates, surface chemistry, and electrode–electrolyte interactions.
Two-Electron Water Oxidation & H2O2
Hydrogen peroxide is an important chemical with applications ranging from synthesis and environmental treatment to disinfection and energy-related processes. Conventional H₂O₂ production relies on centralized, energy- and infrastructure-intensive processes. Two-electron water oxidation (2e⁻ WOR) offers an alternative approach in which water is electrochemically oxidized to produce H₂O₂.
Our research focuses on the fundamental challenges associated with this reaction, particularly selectivity and product stability. Water oxidation can proceed through competing two-electron and four-electron pathways, with the latter leading to oxygen evolution. Even when H₂O₂ is generated successfully, it can undergo further electrochemical oxidation or chemical decomposition at the electrode or in the electrolyte.
We therefore investigate how electrode composition, surface structure, catalyst loading, electrolyte environment, potential, and operating conditions influence both H₂O₂ formation and its subsequent loss.
Electrocatalysis for Electroorganic Synthesis
Electroorganic synthesis is increasingly being explored as a route to carry out organic transformations using electricity instead of conventional chemical oxidants or reductants. Our interest in this area is somewhat different from the traditional approach to electrosynthesis. Rather than primarily asking “what new reaction can be performed?”, we are interested in understanding how the electrode controls the reaction.
We approach electroorganic synthesis from an electrocatalysis and materials perspective. The electrode is not viewed simply as an inert electron source or sink; its composition, surface structure, electronic properties, catalytic sites, and interaction with the electrolyte can strongly influence the reaction pathway.
Our research, therefore, examines how electrode materials and catalyst surfaces affect reaction kinetics, intermediate formation, selectivity, and electrode stability. We are interested in identifying the surface processes that determine whether an organic substrate undergoes the desired transformation or follows competing pathways.
Advanced Materials for Energy Storage
The performance of an electrochemical energy-storage device depends on much more than the properties of its active material. Charge transfer across interfaces, ion transport through electrodes and electrolytes, structural changes during cycling, and the stability of electrode–electrolyte interfaces all play important roles. Our research in energy storage therefore focuses on materials and interfaces as dynamic electrochemical systems.
We investigate functional materials for electrochemical energy storage, with particular attention to how their structure and composition influence charge storage and transport. We are interested in materials where electrochemical operation induces changes in oxidation state, phase, morphology, or local structure, and how these changes affect subsequent cycling behaviour.
A major focus is understanding the relationship between material structure, ion transport, electronic conductivity, interfacial charge transfer, and electrochemical performance.
High-Entropy Materials
High-entropy alloys and other compositionally complex materials offer an unusually large chemical space for designing electrocatalysts. Instead of relying on one or two principal elements, these materials contain multiple components that can create a wide distribution of local atomic environments and surface sites.
Our research explores these materials as platforms for understanding and controlling electrocatalytic behaviour. We investigate how elemental composition, atomic arrangement, electronic structure, and surface chemistry influence adsorption and reaction kinetics. The large compositional space also provides opportunities to tune catalyst properties in ways that are difficult to achieve with conventional single- or binary-component materials.
An important part of our work is recognizing that compositionally complex materials are not static. Under electrochemical conditions, selective dissolution, oxidation, segregation, reconstruction, and surface enrichment can change the composition of the catalytically relevant surface. Consequently, the material synthesized in the laboratory may differ substantially from the surface that operates during catalysis.
Sustainable & Resource-Efficient Electrochemistry
Electrochemical technologies can contribute to sustainability not only by enabling renewable-energy-driven chemistry, but also by changing how we think about materials, feedstocks, and process design. Our research explores electrochemical approaches that make better use of abundant resources and underutilized materials.
We are interested in electrodes prepared from earth-abundant elements, unconventional feedstocks, waste streams, and industrial by-products, particularly where these materials can be directly converted into functional electrochemical electrodes. This creates opportunities to combine materials recovery with chemical production rather than treating resource recovery and electrochemistry as separate processes.
A related interest is the development of simple and scalable electrode architectures. Laboratory-scale demonstrations often rely on carefully prepared catalyst powders and small electrodes, whereas practical electrochemical systems require robust electrodes that can operate at high current densities and for extended periods. We therefore consider electrode fabrication, geometric area, mass transport, stability, and reactor configuration alongside intrinsic catalyst activity.
Our research also explores opportunities to replace energy-intensive anodic reactions with value-generating oxidation chemistry, while maintaining hydrogen production at the cathode. Such approaches can potentially improve the overall economics and energy efficiency of electrochemical processes.
The common theme across these studies is the integration of materials chemistry, electrocatalysis, and process thinking. We are interested in technologies that are not only active at the laboratory scale, but also make sensible use of resources and have a credible path toward larger-scale operation. This direction connects our fundamental studies of electrode surfaces with practical questions of scalability, circularity, and resource efficiency.
