(6di) Heterogeneous Electrocatalysis: Developing Strategies to Engineer Industrially Relevant Catalysts from Fundamental Activity Trends

Heterogeneous electrocatalysis is an established field with growing applications in renewable energy. For example, hydrogen production and consumption are a carbon neutral routes towards energy storage and conversion to electricity (via water electrolysis and hydrogen fuel cells, respectively). My research interests focus on understanding and engineering material surfaces during electrocatalysis as to provide a feedback loop for the design of more highly active and earth abundant catalysts for industrial electrochemical reactors.

Postdoctoral Project:

Development and characterization of active and stable electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction as part of a project with the Toyota Research Institute to understand the operando active site structure and composition.

Supervisor: Professor T. F. Jaramillo

Chemical Engineering Department at Stanford University

Fall 2017 - Current

PhD Dissertation:

Title: Fundamentals and Industrial Applications: Understanding First Row Transition Metal (Oxy)Hydroxides as Oxygen Evolution Reaction Catalysts

Supervisor: Professor S. W. Boettcher

Chemistry Department at the University of Oregon

Fall 2012 – Spring 2017

Research Experience:

My studies have focused on describing and understanding fundamental catalyst activity and stability trends in lab-scale electrochemical devices, using coupled operando electrochemical-synchrotron techniques, and in industrial electrochemical reactors to identify strategies for activity and stability enhancement. During my PhD, at the University of Oregon, my research centered on studying first-row transition metal (oxy)hydroxides for the oxygen evolution reaction (half reaction in water splitting for hydrogen production) in alkaline media. Specifically, the goal of this research was to understand the role of Fe in highly active Ni-Fe catalysts and use this knowledge to design catalysts for industrial anion exchange membrane electrolyzer systems. This project was part of an academic-industry collaboration with Proton Onsite (Nel Hydrogen), an onsite gas (H₂, etc.) generation company. My postdoctoral work at Stanford University is a collaboration of experimental, theory, and machine learning research that focuses on studying the oxygen reduction reaction, half reaction in hydrogen fuel cells that limits total efficiency, and is part of an effort funded in-part by the Toyota Research Institute. This project focuses on designing tools to predict new non-platinum and acid-stable catalysts. Materials systems we have focused on includes metal-organic-frameworks and transition metal nitrides, oxides, and carbides. These studies focus on understanding the active site composition and structure in operando and have been greatly aided by in suit studies at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource. Broadly, my research has been motivated by the principle that a better understanding of the active site during catalysis will inform the design of a more active industrial-scale catalyst.

During this research I have gained invaluable skills in electrochemistry, synthesis, material science, and chemical engineering (to name a few). Furthermore, I am experienced in developing and promoting collaborations with researchers skilled in theoretical modeling (e.g. density functional theory), machine learning, and advanced material characterization (e.g. beamline scientist at synchrotrons).

Teaching Interests:

I am a committed educator with a passion for teaching and have developed and taught curricula that focus on evidence-based teaching and active learning. As a co-instructor and co-course designer I implemented these strategies into a small pilot course, research immersion class, that was an alternative to the General Chemistry laboratory course at the University of Oregon. I believe that good mentorship and teaching can be the difference between someone becoming a successful researcher or not pursing science and I am also committed to promoting diversity and inclusion and have participated in several mentoring programs focused on supporting women in science (Program: Association of Women in Science Mentoring) and diversity on a broader scale (Program: Someone like Me).

Future Direction:

One critical challenge today is comparing fundamental electrocatalyst studies to industrially relevant systems due to differences in corrosion, oxidation, and/or structure of the catalyst during operation in the different systems. Due to this incomparability, few new-non precious metal electrocatalysts have successfully transitioned into industrial systems. My vision is to develop a world-class research group that bridges the gap between fundamental electrocatalysis research and industrially-relevant devices and provide new strategies for energy storage and conversion technologies. My research group would design and develop characterization techniques to facilitate the successful transition of catalyst materials from fundamental research laboratories to practical devices.

Selected Publications: [17 published, 6 first author, 1 patent submitted, a few highlighted below]

Note: I have also published using the name Michaela S. Burke

Kreider, M.E.; Stevens, M. B.; Gallo, A.; Abroshan, H.; Back, S.; Siahrostami, S.; Norskov, Y. K.; King, L. A.; Jaramillo, T. F. Oxidized Surface Layer on Transition metal Nitrides: Active Catalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction. U.S. Patent Application No. 16/420,890, Unpublished (filing date 05/23/2019).

Stevens, M. B.*; Enman, L. J.*; Korkus, E. H.; Zaffran, J.; Trang, C. D. M.; Asbury, J.; Kast, M. G.; Caspary Toroker, M.; Boettcher, S. W. Ternary Ni-Co-Fe Oxyhydroxide Oxygen Evolution Catalysts: Intrinsic Activity Trends, Electrical Conductivity, and Electronic Band Structure. Nano Res. 2019, 12, 1-8.

*These authors contributed equally

Xu, D.; Stevens, M.B.; Cosby, M.; Oener, S. Z.; Smith, A.; Enman, L. J.; Ayers, K. E.; Capuano, C. B.; Renner, J.; Danilovic, N.; Li, Y.; Wang, H.; Zhang, Q.; Boettcher, S. W. Earth-Abundant Oxygen Electrocatalysts for Alkaline Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis: Effects of Catalyst Conductivity and Comparison with Performance in Three-Electrode Cells. ACS Catal. 2019, 9, 7-15.

Enman, L. J.; Stevens, M. B.; Dahan, M. H.; Nellist, M.; Caspary Toroker, M.; Boettcher, S. W.; Operando X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy Shows Fe Oxidation is Concurrent with Oxygen Evolution in Cobalt-Iron (Oxy)hydroxide Electrocatalysts, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 1-6. [Highlighted in Nature Catalysis: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41929-018-0154-x]

Stevens, M. B.; Trang, C. D. M.; Enman, L. J.; Deng, J.; Boettcher, S. W., Reactive Fe-sites in Ni/Fe (oxy)hydroxide are responsible for exceptional oxygen electrocatalysis activity. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 11361-11364. [Times cited: > 80]

Stevens, M. B.; Enman, L. J.; Batchellor, A. S.; Cosby, M. R.; Vise, A. E.; Trang, C. D. M.; Boettcher, S. W. Measurement Techniques for the Study of Thin Film Heterogeneous Water Oxidation Electrocatalysts. Chem. Mater. 2017, 29, 120–140. [Times cited: > 110]

Burke, M. S.; Enman, L. J.; Batchellor, A.; Zou, S.; Boettcher, S. W. Oxygen Evolution Reaction Electrocatalysis on Transition Metal Oxides and (Oxy)hydroxides: Activity Trends and Design Principles. Chem. Mater. 2015, 27, 7549-7558. [Times cited: > 340]

Burke, M. S.; Zou, S.; Enman, L. J.; Kellon, J. E.; Gabor, C. A.; Pledger, E.; Boettcher, S. W. Revised Oxygen Evolution Reaction Activity Trends for First-Row Transition Metal (Oxy)hydroxides in Alkaline Media. J. Phys. Chem Lett. 2015, 6, 3737-3742. [Times cited: > 170]

Burke, M. S.; Kast, M. G.; Trotochaud, L.; Smith, A.; Boettcher, S. W. Cobalt-Iron (Oxy)hydroxide Oxygen Evolution Electrocatalysts: The Role of Structure and Composition on Activity, Stability, and Mechanism. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2015, 137, 3638-3648. [Times cited: > 550]