High-Throughput Optimization of Sustainable Energy Conversion Catalysts Under Real World Device-like Application Conditions

Focus topic:	Resource efficiency
Type of funding:	Individual funding programmes
Programme:	CZS Nexus
Funded institution:	Karlsruhe Institut of Technology (KIT)

Dr. Johanna Schröder conducts research into the development of materials and components for sustainable energy solutions. She studied chemistry at the University of Bremen. After completing her PhD at the University of Bern, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

Goals

To meet the challenges of climate change and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, there is great interest in producing sustainable fuels and chemicals using electrolysis. To make electrolysers competitive with fossil fuels, costs must be reduced. New types of catalysts with high performance and little to no precious metal content are crucial for this. However, newly developed, alternative electrocatalysts that have been tested in the laboratory often show significantly different performance in real application devices.

Dr. Schröder's research project aims to close the knowledge gap between the controlled conditions of basic research and the complex environment of an application device. The ultimate goal is to use resource-efficient catalysts without precious metals to accelerate the transition to electrolysers for the production of cost-effective, sustainable fuels.