Division Structure Analysis is currently seeking a student (w/m/d) for a bachelor or master thesis "Design and synthesis of metal organic frameworks and derived materials for the electrochemical nitrate reduction to ammonia”
Description
Metalorganic frameworks (MOFs) have received a lot of attention for their variety of unique properties, such as large surface area, highly crystalline and porous structure, as well as unsaturated metal coordination sites. Thanks to these properties, they have shown promising electrocatalytic activity towards numerous types of reactions, including the electrochemical reduction of nitrate to ammonia. Ammonia is an essential chemical for the chemical industry, as well as global food security, since 70% of it is used for fertilizer production. However, the conventional industrial ammonia synthesis through the Haber-Bosch process is a very energy intensive process, accounting for 1% of the global energy demand, as well as 1-2% of global CO2 emissions. The electrochemical synthesis of ammonia presents a potential alternative to produce ammonia in a greener and more sustainable way.
The structure of MOFs, and therefore their properties, are highly tunable. They can also serve as precursors for the formation of highly dispersed nano-particles through calcination (pyrolysis) at high temperatures. Both MOFs and MOF-derived nano-particles show a large potential for electrochemical applications and present many possibilities to strategically modify and fine-tune their structure and resulting properties.
MOFs can be synthesized using several techniques such as mechanochemical synthesis, microwave synthesis, sonochemical synthesis, solvothermal process, microemulsions, and droplet- based microfluid synthesis. The nucleation and growth of MOFs crystallites can be altered via variation in synthetic parameters such as modulator concentration, temperature, reaction volume, time, etc.
The aim of the thesis project is to explore different synthesis strategies for MOFs and MOF derived materials and test their electrocatalytic properties for the electrochemical reduction of nitrate to ammonia. The project will include the experimental preparation and characterization of the MOF materials by using Chemputer and XRD, DLS, TEM, etc., as well as the characterization of their electrocatalytic properties by voltammetry and chronoamperometry techniques.
Qualifications
Studies of chemistry, materials science, or related subjects
Project Related Publications
[1] Dolla, T.H., Zhang, B., Matthews, T., Chabalala, M. P., Ajayi, S.O., Sikeyi, L.L., Liu, X., Mkhulu Kenneth Mathe, M.K.., “Metal/covalent-organic framework-based electrocatalysts for electrochemical reduction of nitrate to ammonia”, Coordination Chemistry Reviews, 2024, 518, 216061.
[2] Roy, A., Kumar, S., Buzanich, A. G., Prinz, C., Götz, E., Retzmann, A., Hickel, T., Bhattacharya, B., Emmerling, F., “Synergistic Catalytic Sites in High-Entropy Metal Hydroxide Organic Framework for Oxygen Evolution Reaction”, Advanced Materials, 2024, 2408114.
Contact
Dr. Biswajit Bhattacharya
Abteilung 6 Materialchemie
phone: 030-8104-3350
email: biswajit.bhattacharya@bam.de
r. Franziska Emmerling
Abteilung 6 Materialchemie
phone: 030-8104-1133
email: Franziska.emmerling@bam.de