MARVEL Junior Seminar — January 2017

The MARVEL Junior Seminars aim to intensify interactions between the MARVEL Junior scientists belonging to different research groups located at EPFL. The EPFL community interested in MARVEL research topics is very welcome to attend. We believe that these events will be central for establishing a vibrant community.

Each seminar consists of two presentations of 25 minutes each, allowing to present on a scientific question in depth, each presentation being followed by 10 minutes for discussion. The discussion is facilitated and timed by the chairperson of the day whose mission is to ensure active lively interactions between the audience and the speakers. Unfortunately the second presentation has to postponed to a later seminar.

Pizza is served as of 11:45 in the MED hall (floor 0), and after the seminar at 13:30 you are cordially invited for coffee and dessert to continue discussion with the speakers.

MARVEL Junior Seminar Organizing Committee — Ariadni Boziki, Francesco Ambrosio, Fernando Gargiulo, Sandip De, Davide Tiana, Michele Pizzochero, Quang Van Nguyen and Nathalie Jongen

Check the list of the next MARVEL Junior Seminars in 2017 here.

Abstract —  Morphological Evolution of Cu Nanocrystals During Electrochemical CO₂ Reduction - Jianfeng Huang 

Electrochemical reduction of CO₂ into value-added hydrocarbon fuels by making use of a renewable energy is a sustainable solution to the problems caused by the ever-increasing worldwide consumption of fossil fuels, which include the accelerated depletion of the finite natural resources and overproduction of greenhouse gas CO₂. Currently, a main challenge remains to be the development of a high-performance electrocatalyst that can enduringly convert CO₂ to desired products with a high efficiency. In this talk, I will focus on the stability issue of electrocatalysts during CO₂ electroreduction, which represents one of the three important factors beyond the activity and selectivity when developing a high-performance electrocatalyst. Specifically, I will present experimental observations on how the reaction time affects the morphology of Cu nanocrystals with different sizes and shapes, and the correlation of the morphological changes with the electrochemical activity and selectivity. At the end, I will also illustrate a hypothesis that is proposed to explain the morphological evolution.