Research Projects

The poor energy efficiency of electrochemical water splitting can be addressed by replacing anodic water oxidation with thermodynamically favorable benzylic substrate oxidation to produce value-added products. Transition metal-based catalysts have shown high energy efficiency and conversion rate, but they produce low current density, making them unsuitable for industrial applications. Noble metal-based catalysts, which can produce high current density but are high-cost, struggle to find wide application. This project aims to address these challenges by using metal-organic framework (MOF)-derived dual-atom catalysts (DACs) with a formula of M1M2NxEy. The DACs will ensure minimal use of the noble metal (M2) with high atomic utilization. The project will explore DACs for the anodic oxidation of benzylic substrates to attain an industrial-scale current density (400 mA cm-2). The ratio of noble metal to transition metal will be varied to improve activity, selectivity, and stability. Control over the electronic properties of the DACs will be achieved by tuning the coordinated neighbor atoms N and E. The synergistic interaction between the two metal centers will facilitate the simultaneous adsorption of different reaction intermediates, achieving high selectivity and catalytic activity.