Microfluidic and Surface Electrochemistry

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This research is directed at an understanding of reactions of oxidation of fuels such as formic acid, methanol, ethanol or glycerol. These are all fuels that can be produced from biological sources, and so using them in fuel cells can lead to a sustainable energy system that is carbon neutral. A knowledge of what is happening at the molecular level enables improvement of electrochemical devices such as fuel cells whose operation occurs via reactions occurring on an electrode surface. These reactions are more complicated than for the more established hydrogen oxidation used in hydrogen fuel cells, because there are several surface species involved and there are side-reactions that give undesired soluble products. We will develop new methods to identify these species, determine how much of them there are, and exactly how they interconvert.