Monday, 18 December 4:00pm – 5:00pm

This seminar will be delivered in Chemistry Lecture Theatre 4

Speaker: Bryce Mullens

Host: Prof. Brendan Kennedy

Title: Three Real World Applications of Metal Oxide Materials: Number Two Will Amaze You!!!

Abstract: The development of carbon-neutral energy generation and storage is critical to combatting climate change. Various technologies are currently being developed for sustainable energy generation, such as next-generation ion conductors for solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), industrial photocatalysts for producing hydrogen gas, and materials capable of safely storing radioactive waste. In each of these technologies, scheelite-type metal oxides of the form ABO4 have found a wide variety of applications. However, there is currently an incomplete understanding as to how a single structure type can be used in such wildly different processes.

Paramount to the development of these technologies is a deep understanding of their structure-functionality relationships. That is, how the arrangement of atoms in these structures influences their application. This presentation will present a wholistic picture of each of these materials: from their historical classification, to how new experimental techniques are being used to understand their structure to an unprecedented level of detail, to how this information is used to explain and expand their widespread application.

Three short vignettes on specific functional energy materials will be presented: the solid electrolyte LaNbO4¬ for battery applications,^1-3 the photocatalyst PbWO4 for clean hydrogen production,^4-6 and the TlTcO4 matrix for nuclear waste storage.^7,8 The detail characterisation of these materials will be presented, providing the most holistic view of their structure-functionality relationships. The implications of this extends beyond crystallography, with these classification techniques also finding application in the areas of soft matter, glasses, and the classification of pharmaceutical precursors.

References

[1] Mullens et al.; Dalton Trans., 2021, 50, 9103-9117.

[2] Mullens et al.; J. Alloys Compd.; 2023, 930, 167399.

[3] Mullens et al.; Chem. Mater.; Under Review

[4] Mullens et al.; Chem. Mater.; Under Review

[5] Hu, Mullens et al.; J. Am. Chem. Soc.; Accepted

[6] Hu, Mullens et al.; J. Appl. Cryst.; Under Review

[7] Saura-Múzquiz, Mullens et al.; J. Am. Chem. Soc.; 2022, 144 (34), 15612-15621.

[8] Marlton, Mullens et al.; Inorg. Chem., 2022, 61 (38), 15130-15137.