Dr Alexey Ganin
- Senior Lecturer (School of Chemistry)
telephone:
0141 330 8404
email:
Alexey.Ganin@glasgow.ac.uk
Joseph Black Building, Office C5-21, Glasgow, G12 8qq
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3754-5819Research interests
At the Glasgow ElectroChemistry On Solids (GECOS) group, we are pioneering new ways to generate renewable energy for the future. We synthesise innovative solid state electrocatalysts and implement them in electrochemical systems to convert electricity into renewable fuels. We also believe thin film technology is key - by maximising surface area while minimising materials used, we can drastically improve efficiency and lower costs. Through our groundbreaking electrochemistry research, we aim to develop practical and dependable energy generation solutions that will help make renewables more viable. Our technology brings us steps closer to a clean energy future. At GECOS group, we are energising sustainability science through our passion for electrochemical discovery. Join us as we charge ahead in the renewable energy generation revolution!
Below is the snapshot of activities across the group that may bring us closer to practical and dependable solution to future energy storage.
Storing Excess of Renewable Energy as Fuels
At GECOS group, we are charging ahead to store renewable energy surpluses as fuels, integrating wind and solar power into the sustainable grid of the future. Renewable energy sources like solar and wind are great for generating green electricity, but what happens when there is excessive wind or sunlight? Capturing these energy surpluses remains a major challenge. Our solution is to store the excess as fuels for later use. We apply our understanding of solid state materials and electrochemistry to devices called electrolysers. Electrolysers help generate fuels like H2 or methane from water and/or CO2.
One exciting electrolyser application is producing hydrogen fuel. Hydrogen can power ships, trains and planes as a clean, renewable energy vector. It can also store surplus renewable electricity, integrating wind and solar into the grid. Generating hydrogen from water requires advanced materials to ensure cost-effective production before storage and later use. Our research focuses on developing solid state electrocatalysts that enable more efficient hydrogen generation. We also seek to fundamentally understand what governs solids' electrochemical properties. For example, recent work showed we can effectively control hydrogen evolution activity in transition metal nitrides through doping. For more on our work to optimize electrocatalysts for renewable hydrogen production see our publications by pressing HERE.
Understanding Hydrogen Production on 2D materials
At GECOS, we take novel approaches to electrochemically activating 2D materials and powering the hydrogen evolution reaction. Many electrochemical reactions occur at the surface, making 2D materials a particularly interesting subject. Their well-defined surfaces allow computational studies to precisely predict properties for energy applications. For example, we have taken fresh approaches to viewing 2D catalysts for hydrogen evolution. In a series of papers, including one in Nature Communications titled “The rapid electrochemical activation of MoTe2 for the hydrogen evolution reaction”, we discovered a 2D material that undergoes an activation process. That makes electrolysis with the help of this 2D material more effective and economical.
Our team found electrodes coated with MoTe2 produced more hydrogen during electrolysis when pulsed with specific high-current patterns. By optimising the current pulses through the acidic electrolyte, we reduced the overpotential required for hydrogen evolution by nearly 50% compared to the non-activated material. Supported by computational studies, we explained this dramatic improvement by relating it to the catalyst's electronic structure. Since current levels control the catalytic enhancement, we are searching for optimal sequences, perhaps using machine learning, to achieve even better results.
Another approach to achieving a substantial boost in H2 production is to tap into abundance of catalytic sites in molecular materials. Our recent work in collaboration with Dr. Miras at the University of Glasgow drew attention to polyoxochalcogenide (POC). Due to a simple design they can be immobilized on a solid substrate. That warrants their high stability as no significant loss in activity was observed which is helping the team to make an important step towards bringing molecular electrocatalysts into applications. The paper “Tuning and mechanistic insights of metal chalcogenide molecular catalysts for the hydrogen-evolution reaction” published in Nature Comms. was backed up by the comprehensive computational work which helped us to understand the mechanism of the reaction.
Electrochemistry on thin films
Together with Profs David Moran and Nikolaj Gadeegard from the School of Engineering, we aim at discovery of a universal process for the production of large area, multi-layer 2D metal chalcogenide films and their implementation in water electrolysis. Similar to graphene their surfaces look like East-Asian terraced rice paddies making for abundance of catalytic sites at atomically thin scale. We formed one of them directly on to a substrate material of choice from readily sourced materials as described in the paper "Selective phase growth and precise-layer control in MoTe2". Now funded by EPSRC on a project "Supported MoTe2: proving the viability of a 2D material to be employed in the PEM flow cell for the hydrogen production" we exploit the 2D feature and harvest the energy from the basal planes. We have been working on improving the electrode design since then by preparing atomically thin MoTe2 films and deploy them directly in electrolysers.
Remarkably, MoTe2 is a promising SERS platform for biosensing as we described recently in "Application of a 2D Molybdenum Telluride in SERS Detection of Biorelevant Molecules" together with our colleagues. 2D MoTe2 films detect lipophilic disease marker β-sitosterol with nanomolar sensitivity due to chemical enhancement which boosted Surface Enhance Raman Spectroscopy sensitivity. Using MoTe2 films, can help with detecting a disease marker called β-sitosterol at levels as low as nanomole. The SERS response from the films was also found to be homogeneous and reproducible, making them a promising new SERS platform for biosensing.
CO2 capture, storage and conversion
Although the primary goal of GECOS group is to convert CO2 to fuels electrochemically we also continue research in efficient ways of storing carbon dioxide. For example, the interdisciplinary work pursued together with Chemical Engineers at Heriot-Watt University led by Dr. Humphrey Yiu titled "Aminated poly(vinyl chloride) solid state adsorbents with hydrophobic function for post-combustion CO2 capture" showed how to employ general waste such as PVC as part of highly porous systems. We have successfully deposited PVC on mesoporous silicas to achieve good capacity for CO2 capture. Moreover, due to hydrophobic function the new solid state sorbent can be operated in humid environment without significant loss in capacity and be regenerated as low as 75oC.
Research groups
Grants
EP/W03333X/1 "Supported MoTe2: proving the viability of a 2D material to be employed in the PEM flow cell for the hydrogen production"
NZTC, Spark-2069 “Membrane Free Electrolysis of Seawater with direct CO2 capture”
EP/P001653/1: "Modular assembly of high temperature superconductors from dimensionally reduced iron-based chalcogenide blocks"
Teaching
Head of Materials Chemistry Programme
