昇华沙龙讲座: LUMS reports on Functional Nanomaterials

报告时间：2024年7月26日（星期五）14:00-18:00 报告地点：昇华楼616会议室        Zoom Meeting ID: 945 7691 6579, Passcode: 096328 举办单位：化学与化工学院，高值催化转化与反应工程安徽省重点实验室，可控化学与材料化工安徽省重点实验室，安徽省柔性智能材料创制与应用工程研究中心，先进功能材料与器件安徽省重点实验室 学术报告信息（一） 报告题目：The Physics of Electrodeposited Nanostructures 报 告 人：Walther Schwarzacher 工作单位：Department of Physics, SBA School of Science & Engineering, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Lahore, Pakistan/Department of Physics, The University of Bristol, United Kingdom 报告简介： In this talk I shall start by discussing the long-standing problem of how the grain structure of a polycrystalline film changes during growth. I shall show how nanotechnology, specifically the high-speed atomic force microscope, has delivered new insight into this problem in the case of metal electrodeposition. If time permits, I shall also show how ion adsorption affects the surface morphology. I shall end by explaining why electrodeposition is a very useful method for preparing metal nanostructures, and present recent data on multilayer films electrodeposited from non-aqueous electrolytes. 学术报告信息（二） 报告题目：Functional Nanomaterials – Tuning the Size and Surface Chemistry for Applications in Renewable Energy and Environmental Technologies 报 告 人：Irshad Hussain 工作单位：Department of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, SBA School of Science & Engineering (SSE), Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), DHA, Lahore Cantt-54792, Pakistan 报告简介： The unique chemical and physical properties of nanoscale materials have triggered great scientific interest to explore their potential applications in biomedical sciences, reenable energy technologies, environment, catalysis, and industry etc. The chemical and physical properties of metal/ metal oxide nanoparticles can generally be tuned by controlling their size, shape, and surface chemistry. In this regard, we have developed several reproducible protocols based on chemical reduction and precipitation approach to prepare functionalized metal/metal oxide nanoparticles from subnanometer to over 100 nm in aqueous/organic media with a decent control over their size, shape, and surface chemistry. Many of these metal nanoparticles have been used as building blocks to design/synthesize new nanostructured materials with tunable nanoscale features using template-based and template-less strategies. The functionalized metal/metal oxide nanoparticles/nanoclusters possess interesting optical, recognition and catalytic/bio-catalytic properties and currently we are focusing on the applications of these nanoparticles in renewable energy technologies (mainly H2 production & storage and electrode materials for batteries) and environmental remediation (detection and removal of organic/inorganic pollutants from water, CO oxidation, and CO2 capture and conversion) and based on electrocatalytic and photocatalytic approaches. This talk would, therefore, be an overview of interdisciplinary research activities of Functional Nanomaterials Group at LUMS to synthesize customized inorganic/organic nanoparticles with tunable size and surface chemistry, and their composites having unique chemical and physical properties, and subsequent applications in renewable energy, catalysis and environmental technologies. 学术报告信息（三） 报告题目：Structural Modulation of Metal-Organic Frameworks for Enhanced Green Hydrogen Production 报 告 人：Muhammad Zaheer 工作单位：Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, SBA School of Science and Engineering, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), 54792 Lahore, Pakistan 报告简介： Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are emerging as highly attractive materials for catalytic applications due to their large surface areas and tunable surface and redox properties. By synthetically functionalizing the secondary building units (SBUs) or linkers, MOFs can be transformed into single-site catalysts, potentially bridging the gap between conventional homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts. This presentation explores how the electronic properties, such as the band structure of MOFs, can be modulated through structural adjustments at the SBUs or linkers, leading to improved catalytic performance for hydrogen production via water electrolysis. Our research focuses on metal substitution at the SBUs (nodes) as a strategy to fine-tune the band structure. The resulting bimetallic (Fe/Co) MOFs exhibited significantly enhanced activity for electrocatalytic water oxidation.1 This enhancement is attributed to the proximity of the two metals at the node, which electronically modifies the Fermi level, thereby improving catalytic properties. Furthermore, we demonstrate how various substituents on the linker can influence the catalytic activity of metal centers at the SBUs through electronic effects. Specifically, the presence of an amino-function on the linker was found to be particularly beneficial for the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER).2 Our findings provide valuable insights into the design of MOFs for green hydrogen production, highlighting the importance of structural modulation in optimizing their catalytic efficiency. 学术报告信息（四） 报告题目：Mesogenic Hole transport layers for efficient and stable perovskite optoelectronics 报 告 人：Ammar Ahmed Khan 工作单位：Department of Physics, SBA School of Science and Engineering, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), 54792 Lahore, Pakistan 报告简介： Metal halide perovskites have emerged as promising materials for optoelectronic applications due to solution processibility, excellent photophysical properties and facile tunability. However, the semiconductors, such as the prototypical methylammonium lead iodide suffer from moisture and thermal instability, leading to material and subsequent device degradation. Intensive efforts have been performed on mitigating the degradation of metal halide perovskite devices, and one of the pathways is the use of passivating hole transport layers (HTLs). The HTL is an essential component in photovoltaic and light emitting applications, allowing for charge carrier selectivity and efficient transport. In this talk, we present recent work on employing a liquid crystalline (LC) mesogenic HTL using an alkyloxy triphenylene (HAT6) small molecule as the HTL. We demonstrate (through spectroscopy, structural characterization and device testing) that the columnar packing of the HTL and increased hydrophobicity leads to passivation of the perovskite layers, leading to an increase in device stability. The proposed HTL and similar homologues are thus excellent candidates for self-healing, morphologically engineered and passivating thin films for perovskite devices. 学术报告信息（五） 报告题目：Layered Double Hydroxide and Metal Oxide Based Electrocatalysts for H2 Production and CO2 Reduction 报 告 人：Ali Rauf 工作单位：Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, SBA School of Science and Engineering, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), 54792 Lahore, Pakistan 报告简介： The increasing demand for sustainable energy has driven research into electrochemical processes for hydrogen production and carbon dioxide reduction. This work highlights advancements in developing efficient electrocatalysts for water splitting and CO2 reduction. We developed a CuS/NiFe-LDH/NF electrocatalyst for water splitting, demonstrating excellent performance for both oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The composite requires an overpotential of 55 mV for HER and 170 mV for OER at 10 mA/cm². The cell voltage for overall water splitting is 1.517 V, with stable performance over 72 hours, showing its potential for efficient hydrogen production. For CO2 reduction, we present a system coupling CO2 electroreduction (CO2ER) with water oxidation (OER) and ethylene glycol oxidation (EGO). Using a CuO@Ni(OH)2 catalyst on copper foam, the system achieves an overall cell voltage 180 mV lower than conventional CO2 electrolyzers while producing formate. Enhancements in Sn-based cathodes via Pb doping improved Faradaic efficiency from 68% to 89%. This approach boosts CO2 reduction efficiency and integrates plastic waste upcycling, contributing to sustainable formate production. This research underscores the potential of layered double hydroxide and metal oxide-based electrocatalysts in renewable energy, offering promising avenues for hydrogen production and CO2 reduction.