The group is interested in developing new catalysts for energy conversion, for electro- and thermo- catalysis. Reactions of interest include CO2 reduction (as well as capture) and methane oxidation. New catalysts such as high entropy metals are of interest. Plasma enhanced reactions that can energy efficiently convert hydrocarbons, CO2, Ammonia etc. to utilizable liquid and solid products and hydrogen are areas the group is working on. Other energy conversion platforms such as photo-thermal, photo-voltaic, thermoelectric and ferro/pyro-electric are also of interest from the point of view of materials development and characterization are also of interest.
Selected Publications on "Energy conversion and catalysis"
  1. G. Ye, Y. Gong, J. Lin, B. Li, Y. He, S. T Pantelides, W. Zhou, R.Vajtai, P. M. Ajayan, “Defects Engineered Monolayer MoS2 for Improved Hydrogen Evolution Reaction”, Nano letters, 16(2), 1097-1103 (2016).
  2. D. Liu, X. Li, S. Chen, H. Yan, C. Wang, C. Wu, Y. A Haleem, S. Duan, J. Lu, B. Ge, P. M. Ajayan, Y. Luo, J. Jiang, L. Song, "Atomically dispersed platinum supported on curved carbon supports for efficient electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution", Nature Energy, 4(6), 512-518 (2016).
  3. J. Wu, S. Ma, J. Sun, J. I Gold, C. Tiwary, B. Kim, L. Zhu, N. Chopra, I. N Odeh, R. Vajtai, A. Z Yu, R. Luo, J. Lou, G. Ding, P. JA Kenis, P. M. Ajayan, "A metal-free electrocatalyst for carbon dioxide reduction to multi-carbon hydrocarbons and oxygenates", Nature communications, 7(1), 13869 (2016).
  4. J. Wu, M. Liu, P. P Sharma, R. M. Yadav, L. Ma, Y. Yang, X. Zou, X. Zhou, R. Vajtai, B. I Yakobson, J. Lou, P. M. Ajayan, "Incorporation of Nitrogen Defects for Efficient Reduction of CO2 via Two-Electron Pathway on Three-Dimensional Graphene Foam", Nano letters, 16(1), 466-470 (2016).
  5. Y. Liu, J. Wu, K. P Hackenberg, J. Zhang, Y Morris Wang, Y. Yang, K. Keyshar, J. Gu, T. Ogitsu, R. Vajtai, J. Lou, P. M Ajayan, B. C Wood, B. I Yakobson, “Self-optimizing, highly surface-active layered metal dichalcogenide catalysts for hydrogen evolution”, Nature Energy, 2(9), 1-7 (2017).
  6. J. Wu, T. Sharifi, Y. Gao, T. Zhang, P. M. Ajayan, “Emerging carbon‐based heterogeneous catalysts for electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide into value‐added chemicals”, Advanced Materials, 31(13), 1804257 (2019).
  7. MA Khan, T.Al-Attas, S. Roy, M. M Rahman, N. Ghaffour, V. Thangadurai, S. Larter, J. Hu, P. M. Ajayan, Md Golam Kibria, “Seawater electrolysis for hydrogen production: a solution looking for a problem?”, Energy & Environmental Science, 14(9), 4831-4839 (2021).
  8. R. M. Yadav, Z. Li, T. Zhang, O. Sahin, S. Roy, G. Gao, H. Guo, R. Vajtai, L. Wang, P. M Ajayan, J. Wu, “Amine‐functionalized carbon nanodot electrocatalysts converting carbon dioxide to methane”, Advanced Materials, 43(2), 2105690 (2022).
  9. S. Castro-Pardo, S. Bhattacharyya, R. M. Yadav, A. P. de C. Teixeira, M Astrid Campos Mata, T. Prasankumar, M. A Kabbani, Md Golam Kibria, T. Xu, S. Roy, P. M. Ajayan, “A comprehensive overview of carbon dioxide capture: From materials, methods to industrial status”, Materials Today, 60, 227-270 (2022).
  10. S. Roy, Z. Li, Z. Chen, A. C. Mata, P. Kumar, S. Ch Sarma, I. F Teixeira, I. F Silva, G. Gao, N.V Tarakina, Md Golam Kibria, C. V. Singh, J. Wu, P. M. Ajayan, “Cooperative Copper Single‐Atom Catalyst in 2D Carbon Nitride for Enhanced CO2 Electrolysis to Methane”, Advanced Materials, 25(1), 2300713 (2024).