Synthetic Materials Chemistry for a Green Hydrogen Future and Beyond

Beyond conventional approaches, hybrid water splitting, which couples water oxidation with organic oxidation reactions, emerges as a promising pathway to simultaneously generate hydrogen and value-added chemicals or fuels. This talk explores the intersection of synthetic materials chemistry and catalysis, emphasizing advanced strategies for designing high-performance catalysts tailored to diverse electrocatalytic reactions. A detailed overview of synthetic methodologies will highlight techniques to precisely control critical catalyst descriptors, including particle size, shape, crystal facets, composition, electronic structure, defects, coordination environments, and surface atomic arrangements, all of which govern electrocatalytic activity, selectivity, and stability. Drawing on our work with metal-based nanostructured precatalysts, we will also address the dynamic behavior of precatalysts under reaction conditions. Particular focus will be placed on in-situ spectroscopic techniques, such as X-ray absorption spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy, which provide insights into structural evolution and the identification of active sites.