Topic: Architectural Design of Bimetallic Nanocatalysts toward Energy Conversion

Speaker: Dr. Chun-Hong Kuo
　　　  Institute of Chemistry, Academia Sinica

Time: 10:00-11:30, August 15^th, 2018

Venue: Room 468，LeeHsun Building, IMR CAS

Abstract:

Nanocatalysts with dual functions provides substantial benefits for creation of efficient energy-conversion systems. Among applicable materials, bimetallic nanocatalysts with integrated properties of plasmonics and catalysis receive great attention, as they possess the superiority of light-energy conversion to enhance chemical production or sensing. Accordingly, Au-, Ag-, and Cu-based bimetallic materials are more interesting candidates owing to their significant LSPR absorption in the range of visible light energy. In this talk, a serial of synthetic concepts of bimetallic nanocatalysts will be introduced, for demonstrating how to optimize utilization of visible light energy toward sensing and catalysis by virtue of nanoarchitectural design. It will begin with fabrication of Au-Pd-Au nanobricks as robust nanoplasmonic sensors, in which mechanism study of nanobrick growth and H2 sensing by in-situ techniques of synchrotron radiation will be discussed. The second story will be turning the halide switch to exchange the formation of Au-Pd alloy and core-shell nanoicosahedra, where kinetic studies of the selective growth and photoreduction of nitro-compounds will be shown. The last part is the use of the abundant element, Cu instead of noble Au, as templates for fabrication of CuPt nanoframes, by which their high surface-to-volume ratio leads to the high performance in electrocatalytic oxygen reduction.

Biography:

Dr. Chun-Hong Kuo received his Ph.D. degree in chemistry under the supervision of Professor Michael H. Huang (黃暄益) at NTHU (臺灣清華大學) for three years (2006–2009) and went on one-year postdoctoral research in the same group by 2010 summer. He later joined the research team led by Professor Frank Tsung’s (鍾家洸) at Boston College (BC) for two years (2010–2012), when he worked on the hybrid structures of NP-MOF nanoreactors for gas phase catalysis. In 2012 fall, he switched to Professor Gabor Somorjai’s group at UC Berkeley and ALS at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL) to conduct a project of fundamental understanding of adsorbates on catalysts with synchrotron radiation analysis. He started his faculty position as an assistant research fellow in the Institute of Chemistry, Academia Sinica in the end of 2013, and became an adjunct assistant professor in the Institute of Materials Science & Engineering, NCU (臺灣中央大學) in 2017. The Kinetic Nanochemistry Group he leads focuses on the research fields of Nanoarchitectural Engineering, Heterogeneous Catalysis, Energy Conversion, and Nanoplasmonic Sensing.