Physics & Engineering Physics Colloquium

Christopher Koenigsmann, Ph.D., associate professor, in the chemistry department at Fordham University, will present, “Designing New Nanomaterials for Renewable Energy and Sensor Applications.”

A key technological shortfall in the development of practical renewable energy and sensor devices is the high cost and poor durability of the precious metal catalysts that drive electrochemical reactions within operating devices. This has hindered the widespread, commercialization of platinum-based catalysts in blood-glucose meters and in polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells in automobiles. In light of these challenges, there is a broad effort to design precious metal electrocatalysts and their supports at the nanoscale leading to considerable advancements in catalysts performance. In recent work, we have focused our efforts on employing solution-based methods to produce alloy-type Pt-based nanostructures with tunable structure, size, and composition. The electrochemical properties and electrocatalytic activity of the as-synthesized catalysts toward the oxygen reduction reaction and the oxidation of small organic molecules are examined as a function of the structure of the active sites at the catalytic interface.