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Microenvironment-Tunable Nanocatalysis & AI Functional Materials

Abstract

Heterogeneous catalytic systems based on nanomaterials have advanced energy conversion technology, but performance and cost challenges remain. Introducing local microenvironments, like mechanical strain and electric fields, can tailor catalyst surface activities, gaining attention in nanostructured catalysis. This talk will cover our recent developments in nanoscale solid-materials-based catalysts for hydrogen evolution reactions. Our research integrates active catalytic sites with microenvironment perturbations, considering factors like interior strain, electric fields, and interface barriers. Our catalysts include 2D materials and core-shell structures, highlighting the tunability of catalyst activity through material integration and manipulation of local reaction environments. Additionally, traditional R&D in functional materials relies on intuition and trial-and-error, but advancements in materials and data science have led to new data-driven strategies integrating machine learning. We will also present our study using a robotic platform that automates the synthesis and characterization of colloidal nanocrystals, demonstrating a promising approach for data-driven robotic synthesis in discovering functional materials.