Research summary
Chemicals like hydrogen, ammonia, methanol and hydrogen peroxide are important clean fuel options that can help us meet future sustainable energy needs, but the industrial processes involved in producing them are energy-intensive and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Electrochemical processes—powered by renewable energy from sources like wind, hydro and solar—offer clean, sustainable, scalable production routes with zero carbon emissions. The problem is that the widespread adoption of these methods is hampered by a lack of suitable catalyst materials that are abundant, active, selective and stable over time. (Catalysts are substances that speed up reactions.)
As Canada Research Chair in Surface Electrocatalysis and Electrochemical Transformations - Theory and Modelling, Dr. Samira Siahrostami is using computational methods to evaluate various nanostructured materials as potential catalysts for electrochemically synthesizing these important chemicals. She and her research team aim to facilitate the design and discovery of catalyst materials for the environmentally friendly production of these key chemicals.