Research Seminar of Prof. Yu Lei from University of Alabama in Huntsville

Lecture Time: 10:40 on 15th December, 2015

Lecture Room: C501 of National Sicence Park

Lecture Title: Catalysts and Electrocatalysts Synthesized Using Atomic Layer Deposition

Yu Lei

Assistant Professor

Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering

University of Alabama in Huntsville

Abstract

The size and composition of heterogeneous catalysts play important roles in achieving highly active, selective and stable catalytic systems. We have been working on developing atomic layer deposition (ALD) as a promising method to tailor size and composition of metal and metal oxide catalysts. Benefiting from self-limiting surface reactions, ALD enables conformal coatings of thin films and highly dispersed nanoparticles on high surface area supports. The structure of the ALD catalysts were characterized by synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy, synchrotron X-ray pair distribution function and aberration corrected STEM. We will show that the size and composition of metal and metal oxides can be controlled precisely by tuning the ratio and sequence of ALD cycles of each substance, and therefore this atomicprecision synthesis technique is used as the cornerstone to build precise catalyst structure – performance relationship. In this talk, we will focus on the results in catalysis and electrocatalysis.

Biography

Yu Lei is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). He received B.S. from Nanjing University in 2004, Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2010, and a postdoctoral training at Argonne National Laboratory. Currently, he directs a research group in atomic layer deposition (ALD) technology with the goal of developing new techniques and processes for a wide variety of applications such as catalysis, batteries, and smart materials. His is a recipient of the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from the Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) and ACS-PRF New Doctoral Investigator Award from American Chemical Society (ACS) in 2015. He has published in the highly regarded journals Science, Nano Letters and JACS; and three papers published in Nature Communications.