Title : Hydrazine Oxidation Electrocatalysis on Multi-Doped Carbons: Who Does What?
Speaker: David Eisenberg, Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Israel Institute of Technology.
Date : March 9th, 2021, Tuesday
Time : 12.30
This is an online seminar. To request the event link, please send a message to the department.
Abstract:
Electrocatalysis of hydrazine oxidation, a promising non-carbon fuel, is both a practical goal, and a scientific paradox. Hydrazine is a famous reductant in chemical synthesis, yet the onset potential for its electro-oxidation reaction is highly dependent on the catalytic surface. Some excellent catalysts have been developed in recent years towards this goal, designed for direct hydrazine fuel cells and for sensors. Most of these catalysts, however, are either prohibitively expensive (e.g. Pt-based ones), or easily deactivated (e.g Ni-based ones).
We have recently discovered a family of multi-doped carbons with record-breaking electrocatalytic activity towards hydrazine oxidation in alkaline pH (Angew. Chem. Int Ed. 2018, J. Mater. Chem. A. 2019). They contain many components, all of which postulated to be possible candidates for hydrazine oxidation active sites: from Mo-doped Fe3C nanoparticles, to the N-doped, graphitic, hierarchically porous carbon. They provide the first example of hydrazine oxidation on carbides. Moreover, they are stable, efficient, and easy to make on a large scale. But what makes them tick? Who does the catalysis, and who is dragged along?
In this talk I will present unpublished and recently published results, describing our quest to understand the source of activity in these fascinating materials.
Bio:
David Eisenberg is an Assistant Professor at the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry (since 2017) and an associate of the Grand Technion Energy Program at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. He studied Physical Organic Chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and worked in R&D at an Israeli National Lab. He pursued post-doctoral research in electrocatalysis with Prof. Allen J. Bard and Prof. Adam Heller at the University of Texas at Austin, as a Fulbright Fellow and an Ilan-Ramon Fellow, and then in the University of Amsterdam (with Prof. Gadi Rothenberg). The Eisenberg Lab for Electrochemistry and Energy is focused on electrocatalysis in the nitrogen and oxygen cycles, and the rational design of nanostructure in catalytic materials. David has won several teaching and research awards.