Chemistry Departmental Seminar – Dr. Boniface Fokwa, University of California

About the event

Speaker: Dr. Boniface Fokwa, Chemistry Department, University of California,

Host: Dr. Ivan Popov

Title: Designing Earth-Abundant Bulk and Nano-Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Production

Abstract: Electrolysis of water is a promising clean method for large-scale hydrogen gas production, but its scalability is limited by the high cost and scarcity of noble metal catalysts like platinum (Pt). [1] Non-noble metal catalysts have emerged as effective alternatives for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Our recent research revealed that α-MoB2 (AlB2-type a 2D-like structure) exhibits exceptional HER activity. [2] Density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that multiple surfaces of α-MoB2 are catalytically active, with the graphene-like B-terminated {001} surface being optimal for H2 evolution. Both DFT and experimental results confirm that α-MoB2 outperforms β-MoB2 in HER activity [3], attributed to its 50% higher content of graphene-like boron layers. Additionally, we discovered an unexpected boron-chain dependency in the V-B system [4], enabling the prediction of novel HER-active catalysts. Using a recently developed synthesis method [5], we successfully produced various transition metal borides at the nanoscale, several of which demonstrated excellent HER performance. [6],[7] Furthermore, we identified a lattice parameter-dependent HER activity in ternary AlB2-type variants, with Cr0.4Mo0.6B2 [8] and, more recently, Mo-vacancy-containing V0.3Mo0.7B2 [9] surpassing Pt/C at industrially relevant current densities. Some of these findings have been detailed in an invited account. [10]

References

(1) Seh et al., Science, 355, eaad4998, (2017).

(2) H. Park, et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 56, 5575 (2017).

(3) H. Park, et al., J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 139, 12915 (2017).

(4) E. Lee, et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 59, 11774 (2020).

(5) P. R. Jothi, et al., Adv. Mater. 30, 1704181 (2018).

(6) P. R. Jothi, et al., ACS Appl. Energy Mater. 30, 1704181 (2018).

(7) S. B. Kim, et al., Small, 21, 2412693 (2025).

(8) H. Park, et al., Adv. Mater. 32, 2000855 (2020).

(9) E. Lee, ACS. Energy Lett. Accepted (2025).

(10) E. Lee, et al., Acc. Chem. Res. 55, 56 (2022).