Postdoctoral Fellowship: MPS-Ascend: Selective Electrogeneration of Ammonia from Nitrate - establishing Control of Bimetallic Electrocatalysts Through Interfacial Chemical Design

Kenneth R. Flores被授予NSF数学和物理科学提升博士后研究奖学金（NSF MPS-Ascend），以开展与扩大STEM中代表性不足的群体参与相关的研究和活动计划。弗洛雷斯博士的研究项目名为“MPS-Ascend：从硝酸盐中选择性产生氨-通过界面化学设计建立双金属电催化剂的控制”，由一位赞助科学家指导。该奖学金的主办机构是亚利桑那州立大学，赞助科学家是塞尔吉·加西亚-塞古拉博士。本课题拟开发用于硝酸盐电催化还原的双金属电催化剂，用于水体修复和氨的绿色生成。该建议旨在通过调节金属对氢和氧基团的亲和力来控制电极界面上的物种相互作用，改变金属的表面覆盖率来阐明每种金属对产物选择性的贡献，以及改变沉积金属中心的优先晶体结构来建立选择性和氨生成动力学的相关性，从而使电催化剂具有选择性。如果成功，拟议中的研究可以通过从废料中获取氨等有价值的工业化学品来影响循环经济战略。PI打算研究和改进与水修复策略相关的电化学系统的性能，这些策略可以使工业和代表性不足的少数群体（URM）社区受益。为凤凰城地区的拉美裔服务学校提议的外展活动包括举办研讨会，以帮助发展软技能，如技术写作和演讲，以及利用适当的资源，如助学金，奖学金，以及为URM团体追求MPS领域的学生提供实习机会。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Kenneth R. Flores is awarded an NSF Mathematical and Physical Sciences Ascending Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (NSF MPS-Ascend) to conduct a program of research and activities related to broaden participation by groups underrepresented in STEM. This fellowship to Dr. Flores supports the research project entitled “MPS-Ascend: Selective Electrogeneration of Ammonia from Nitrate - Establishing Control of Bimetallic Electrocatalysts through Interfacial Chemical Design” under the mentorship of a sponsoring scientist. The host institution for the fellowship is Arizona State University, and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Sergi Garcia-Segura.This proposal intends to develop bimetallic electrocatalysts for the electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate for both water remediation and the green generation of ammonia. The proposal aims at tailoring the electrocatalysts towards ammonia selectivity by modulating metal affinity to hydrogen and oxygen moieties to control species interaction at the electrode interface, varying surface coverage of the metals to elucidate the contributions of each metal in product selectivity and varying the preferential crystal structure of deposited metal centers to establish correlations in selectivity and kinetics for ammonia generation. If successful, the proposed research could impact circular economy strategies by sourcing valuable industrial chemicals such as ammonia from waste materials.The PI intends to study and improve the performance of electrochemical systems relevant to water remediation strategies that could benefit both industry and underrepresented minority (URM) communities. The proposed outreach activities for Hispanic serving schools in the Phoenix area include hosting workshops to assist in the development of soft skills such as technical writing and speaking as well as in the utilization of proper resources such as grants, fellowships, and internships for students from URM groups pursuing MPS fields.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.