NiCuAg: an electrocatalyst for sustainable transformations

Dickinson, Hannah Louise Alexandra (2024) NiCuAg: an electrocatalyst for sustainable transformations. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Climate change is the biggest global threat facing this generation. Atmospheric CO2 levels have reached around 400 ppm which has led to increased global temperatures and rising sea levels, changes which affect not only human but also animal and plant life. Electrochemistry can be implemented as a useful technology to help combat this. Electrochemical CO2 reduction aims to convert the excess atmospheric CO2 into useful feedstock chemicals such as hydrocarbon fuels. Electrochemical hydrogen evolution aims to provide an alternative means of producing hydrogen that does emit CO2, as well as allowing the storage of excess energy generated by existing renewable energy technologies. This thesis examines the development of metallic stacked catalysts for these sustainable transformations.

Chapter 1 provides context and a literature review of the recent developments in the field of bimetallic and trimetallic catalysts for electrochemical CO2 reduction. The multiple simultaneous reaction pathways and resulting linear scaling relations are outlined; the current popular ways these can be overcome by catalyst modification are also given. The definitions of a series of common performance metrics are reported. Following this, the context and pioneering research developments for hydrogen evolution catalysts are discussed including the role of pH, possible mechanisms, and the development of activity volcano plots. In Chapter 2 the theory behind the experimental and analytical techniques used throughout this thesis are explained.

The development of a trimetallic catalyst, NiCuAg is detailed in Chapter 3. NiCuAg, NiCu and bare Ni are successfully synthesised, thoroughly characterised and tested under CO2 reduction conditions. Chapter 4 takes forward the catalysts developed in Chapter 3 and explores their use as hydrogen evolution catalysts, at a variety of pH values. It also explores the development of NiCuPt, and NiPt, which expand upon the catalyst layering idea whilst introducing Pt, which is known for its hydrogen evolution ability.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Subjects: Q Science > QD Chemistry
• Colleges/Schools: College of Science and Engineering > School of Chemistry
• Supervisor's Name: Symes, Professor Mark
• Date of Award: 2024
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2024-84789
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 08 Jan 2025 15:08
• Last Modified: 08 Jan 2025 15:09
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.84789
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/84789

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