MULTICAT

In recent years, green hydrogen is gaining importance worldwide as an energy carrier and feedstock for the chemical industry. Hydrogen, produced by electrolysis using renewable electricity, is essential for a successful energy transition and for meeting international climate targets. Efficient generation of fossil-free hydrogen at low cost requires the development of new materials and implementation of novel methodologies. The Multifunctional electrocatalysts for clean energy conversion (MultiCat) project aim to develop multifunctional catalysts for efficient generation of hydrogen and oxygen gasses via water electrolysis. Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is often the bottleneck during water splitting. Here, this issuewill be tackled using transition metal phosphide (TMPs) which are emerging as efficient catalytsts and alternative to expensive noble-metal oxides such as ruthenium oxide (RuO2) and iridium oxide (IrO2). The prepared TMPs will be also used as bifunctional catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In addition to water electrolysis, another objective of the MultiCat project is to prepare efficient catalysts for ORR which limits performance of low-temperature hydrogen-oxyhen fuel cells. Single-ligand and mixed-ligand metal organic frameworks (MOFs) with extended electron conjugations will be synthesized and applied as catalysts in ORR studies. With the use of highly conductive ligands, a truly novel Fe and Ti- containing MOFs with predicted enhanced electrochemical performances and stabilities will be developed. MultiCat project will also use computational guided studies (density functional theory, DFT) to develop catalysts with intrinsic defects.

Project meeting at TUWien on February 13, 2023. Project results has been discussed by three partners. On the left image: Assoc. Prof. Iwona A. Rutkowska (left), Prof. Pavel Kulesza (middle), Assoc. Prof. Saim Emin (right), prof. Dominik Eder (back) and Dr. Shaghayegh Naghdi (back).

Partners meeting at the International Conference on Functional Materials in Bratsilava on 5.9.2022.