WFU Physics Colloquium

TITLE: First-Principles Prediction of the Electrochemical Stability of Bimetallic Catalysts for Use as Fuel Cell Electrodes

SPEAKER: Professor Ismaila Dabo ,

TIME: Wednesday February 17, 2016 at 4:00 PM

PLACE: Room 101 Olin Physical Laboratory

Fuel cells are electrochemical devices that convert the energy of a fuel into electricity using a catalyst like platinum or palladium. These catalysts are, however, scarce and pricy, which is imposing serious constraints on the massive deployment of fuel cell vehicles. By alloying the catalyst with a cheaper metal, it is possible to alleviate these constraints without diminishing the efficiency of the fuel cell electrode. It is even feasible, in some instances, to improve the activity of the alloy beyond that of the pure catalyst; this type of improvement is observed when the chemical (ligand) or physical (strain) effects that arise from alloying bring the catalyst closer to the top of the so-called 'volcano plot' that relates the catalytic activity of the electrode to the energy of the adsorbed O and H species. In this presentation, I will discuss recent progress in the quantum.continuum modeling of solid.solution interfaces to accelerate the development of bimetallic catalysis with a focus on answering the key question of their surface stability under the operating conditions that are relevant to fuel cell systems.