A 3.5-year PhD studentship in graphene quantum dots and all-carbon catalysts for bifunctional ORR and OER

This position is fully funded by the UCL-A*STAR Collaborative Programme via the Centre for Doctoral Training in Molecular Modelling and Materials Science (M3S CDT) at UCL. The student will be registered for a PhD at UCL where he/she will spend year 1 and the first six months of year 4. The second and third years of the PhD will be spent at the A*STAR Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) in Singapore. The Studentship will cover tuition fees at UK/EU rate plus a maintenance stipend £16,553 (tax free) pro rata in years 1 and 4. During years 2 and 3, the student will receive a full stipend directly from A*STAR. In addition, A*STAR will provide the student with one-off relocation allowance.

Bifunctional catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are highly desirable for rechargeable metal-air batteries and regenerative fuel cells. However, the commercial oxygen electrocatalysts (mainly noble metal based) can only exhibit either ORR or OER activity, and also suffer from inherent cost and stability issues. It remains challenging to achieve cost-efficient ORR and OER, ultimately with bifunctionality on a single catalyst. Recently, as one of the world leading groups in the area, we prove that metal-free nanostructures can offer large scope for such bifunctionality, together with improved cost-effectiveness and durability (EES, 9, 2016, 1661). Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) possess specific structures that provide unique photo-/electro-/chemical catalytic properties, particularly if chemical doping can be effectively incorporated in the surface structures. Such dots can be engineered and enriched on graphitic support to produce highly effective and durable bifunctional catalysts for both ORR and OER reactions, as demonstrated by our preliminary work, based on doped graphenes (PNGF in the figure). Incorporation and enrichment of GQDs with effective dopant structures would break the so-called “scaling limit” on multi-electron transfer steps, to further reduce the overpotential and increase current density. Such GQDs can be supported on mesoporous carbon electrodes to achieve cost-effective and highly scalable “all-carbon” electrodes for widespread and large-scale applications in energy conversion and storage.

Specific project plan are as follows:
Year 1: Synthesis, enrichment and modifications of GQDs over carbon support by co-precipitation and SASD (Single Atomic Site Doping), and structural and preliminary electrochemical characterisations at UCL.
Years 2 and 3: Fabrication of GQDs over electrode structures and battery systems, structural and electrochemical characterizations by advanced HRTEM, surface enhanced Raman, cyclic voltammetry, linear sweep voltammetry, chronoamperometry and impedance spectroscopy, with X-ray sorption spectroscopies and also with collaborative clarification of dopant-configurations and their binding with supporting substrate at IMRE and UCL.
Year 3.5: Joint publications and thesis writing-up at UCL.
This joint project will integrate UCL’s strengths in novel nanostructural development with the advanced characterisation and expertise in structural and electrochemical analyses at IMRE, to develop highly effective CQD-enriched metal-free air/oxygen electrodes for reversible metal-air and fuel cell systems. Highly cost-effective bifunctional catalysts will be developed before the end of the project.

Please contact Prof. Z. Xiao Guo ([Email Address Removed]) for further details or to express an interest.

Applications will be accepted until 15 June 2017 but the position will be filled as soon as an appropriate candidate is found.