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

肯尼思河弗洛雷斯被授予NSF数学和物理科学上升博士后研究奖学金（NSF MPS-Ascend），以开展与扩大STEM代表性不足的群体参与有关的研究和活动计划。弗洛雷斯博士的奖学金支持在赞助科学家的指导下进行的题为“MPS-Ascend：从硝酸盐中选择性电生成氨-通过界面化学设计建立双金属电催化剂的控制”的研究项目。该奖学金的主办机构是亚利桑那州立大学，赞助科学家是Sergi Garcia-Segura博士。该提案旨在开发用于电催化还原硝酸盐的可再生电催化剂，用于水修复和氨的绿色生成。该提案旨在通过调节金属对氢和氧部分的亲和力以控制电极界面处的物种相互作用，改变金属的表面覆盖度以阐明每种金属在产物选择性中的贡献，以及改变沉积金属中心的优先晶体结构以建立氨生成的选择性和动力学的相关性，来定制电催化剂对氨的选择性。如果成功的话，拟议的研究可能会影响循环经济战略，通过采购有价值的工业化学品，如氨从废物材料。PI打算研究和改善电化学系统的性能相关的水修复战略，可以使工业和代表性不足的少数民族（URM）社区受益。拟议的外展活动，为西班牙裔服务的学校在凤凰城地区包括主办讲习班，以协助发展软技能，如技术写作和口语，以及在利用适当的资源，如赠款，奖学金，该奖项反映了NSF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。

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.