Dimitrios Karatzas

PhD Student

Noble metals have historically been in a favored position in electrochemical technology research due to their high catalytic activity on industrially relevant processes, e.g., electrosynthesis, electrolysis, and proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). One of the primary bottlenecks to realizing large-scale electrochemical energy production is the degradation of noble-metal catalysts under operational conditions. Under anodic conditions, corrosion of the noble metals and their formed oxides is observed, through a number of mechanisms under investigation to be fully understood and deconvoluted.

My doctoral work will focus on investigating the mechanisms of electrochemical oxidation, restructuring, and dissolution of platinum and other noble metals for PEMFC applications. Platinum single-crystal surfaces will be heavily utilized in this work to assess the impact of crystallographic orientation on degradation behavior under conditions of industrial interest. The research will be performed in electrochemical scanning flow cells (SFCs) using online ICP-MS for real-time monitoring of the degradation process, along with in situ high-energy surface x-ray diffraction (HESXRD) measurements to correlate the electrode/electrolyte interface and surface structure to the respective recorded electrochemical spectra.