Department of Chemistry Seminar – Prof. Chang

About the event

Speaker: Dr. Qiaowan Chang, WSU

Host: Dr. Xiaofeng Guo

Title: Mechanistic Understanding of Electrocatalytic Reactions: From Electrocatalysts to In-situ Characterization

Abstract:

The availability of renewable energy sources (solar and wind) provides opportunities to replace many traditional chemical synthesis methods by electrochemical processes to achieve sustainable manufacturing, including direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) electrochemical production, and carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction reactions. However, the rates of many important reactions involved in electrochemical processes are too slow and the selectivity of targeted products also needs to be improved. Solving these challenges requires fundamental understanding of reaction mechanisms and designing better electrocatalysts.  In this presentation, I will discuss several examples of investigating reaction mechanism, from the catalyst design to the application of the in-situ characterization techniques.

Bio:

Dr. Qiaowan Chang is currently an assistant professor at Washington State University. She did her postdoctoral research with Prof. Jingguang Chen and Prof. Alissa Park at Columbia University. She received her PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of California San Diego, advised by Dr. Zheng Chen, where she was awarded the Marye Anne Fox Endowed Fellowship, given to the PhD student with highly distinguished academic records. Her research focuses on atomic-scale electrocatalyst design and reaction mechanisms via in-situ characterization.