Physics

Dr. Tharamani C. N.
Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar

Abstract:

Global energy requirements are touching new meridians with the gradual advancement in the living standards and the day-by-day growing world population. This necessitates the exploration to seek for greener and sustainable energy reservoir systems which ought to be environmentally agreeable for such an intriguing purpose. Electrochemical energy conversion and storage devices offer some most alluring aptitudes for providing clean energy. To name a few of these include fuel cells, rechargeable metal-air/oxygen batteries and HCl electrolysis and likewise. Oxygen being central to the processes in these devices, a lot of attention has been focused upon the study of oxygen chemistry in terms of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and thence to the melioration of the associated electrocatalysts. In the past decade research has depicted tremendous improvement towards the betterment of fuel cells in its legions of shortcomings or corrigible features. But still an infinite pursuit towards the exploration of effective, sturdy and energy efficient catalysts continues. In order for the fuel cell systems to be conceived as a pertinent alternative to conventional energy sources, the need of the hour is to supersede the employment of noble, scarce and valuable catalyst. The hound for an equally or even more superior catalyst is en route for stinting and sustainable catalyst. The talk addresses, several strategies pursued to replace noble-metal free electrocatalysts.

 chemical/ electrochemical route for the synthesis of materials

 design of oxygen depolarized cathode materials for HCl electrolysis

 microelectrochemiscal investigation and local electrocatalyic activity visualization by       scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM).