Research Projects

Hydrogen fuel is the next-generation energy carrier. Hydrogen generation using renewable energy and the possibility of portable solid-state hydrogen storage materials is one of the principal research focus. As the most abundant energy resource, the direct conversion of solar energy to hydrogen via water splitting is the most sustainable energy production method without causing pollution to the environment. The water oxidation (the oxygen evolution reaction (OER)) occurring at the cathode material has often been especially problematic due to the lack of active catalysts. Nickel hydroxide or oxy-hydroxide materials are currently used as an efficient catalyst in OER. PI believes that Ti and Zr dopants could give better catalytic activities and the proton transport between Nickel hydroxide / oxy-hydroxide layers. Later, modeling will be done for the efficient MgO substrate supported metal clusters for hydrogen storage and dissociation, which could be used as a hydrogen fuel cell.