Inorganic Electrochemistry for Clean Energy Applications
The climate crisis has accelerated the transition to the use of low carbon fuels and driven the deployment of renewable energy technologies in Canada and worldwide. Increasing renewable energy output is leading to decreasing capital costs and a decarbonized energy grid; however, with this new capacity comes an increased demand for energy storage. These transitions are putting more demand on critical minerals. In addition, new technologies are being developed to use clean energy chemical vectors, such as ammonia, which can play key roles in stabilizing renewable energy grid fluctuations, long-term energy storage, and the future transportation sector. Our research program is focused on using both inorganic chemistry and electrochemistry - that is using electricity to effect chemical changes – for the production and use of low carbon fuels, and for clean energy storage applications. One of our key projects is focused on using an old class of molecules, carboranes (Cb), which are electrochemically active and display distinct metal binding properties based on the electric potential applied, for the capture and release of critical minerals. Design and synthesis of new redox-active carboranes, combined with applied electrochemistry, are used to develop new platforms for critical mineral extraction and recycling.