Catalysis for Hydrogen and Oxygen Evolution Reactions (HER & OER)

Electrocatalysis is critical to advancing green hydrogen production, offering sustainable solutions for clean energy systems and industrial applications.

Our lab focuses on designing efficient catalysts for water-splitting reactions, particularly the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), to enable scalable and sustainable hydrogen production.

Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER)

Hydrogen, a versatile fuel, can be produced cleanly through the HER process, which occurs at the cathode during electrochemical water splitting. Our research addresses challenges by:

• Designing cost-effective, earth-abundant catalysts such as doped oxides, alloys, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), and 2D materials.
• Optimizing surface structures and behaviours for enhanced catalytic efficiency and stability in both acidic and alkaline media.

Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER)

OER, as the anodic reaction, represents a significant efficiency bottleneck in water-splitting systems. We aim to enhance OER by:

• Developing high-performance, low-Iridium (Ir) catalysts to reduce dependence on precious metals.
• Improving activity using first-row transition metal oxides tailored for alkaline conditions.

Recent Achievements

Our lab has made significant strides in electrocatalysis, including:

• Iron-doped Nickel Diselenide: A robust bifunctional catalyst for alkaline seawater electrolysis, demonstrating stability and low overpotentials.
• Nanostructured Bi-Sb Trichalcogenides: Enhanced HER efficiency in acidic environments through advanced charge transfer mechanisms.
• Ruthenium-decorated Nickel Diselenide: Improved water-splitting performance through active site exposure and optimized ion adsorption.

By leveraging our understanding of structure-function relationships, we are pioneering durable and efficient catalysts for hydrogen production.

Studies using a micro-electrochemical cell, highlights how screw dislocation-driven line defects to improving the electrocatalytic performance of WS₂ for hydrogen generation. Prasad V. Sarma et. al., ACS Nano 2019.