Organized by
HKIE Environmental Division
Research Centre for Resources
Engineering towards Carbon Neutrality (RCRE), PolyU
Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering (CEE), PolyU
Date, time & venue
8 May 2024 (Wednesday), 17:00-18:00,
Seminar via Zoom Meeting
Programme Highlight
Recycled
wool felt has been successfully converted into electrocatalysts for water
splitting, through reduction-carbonization-activation treatments. By taking
advantages of natural disulphide bonds in wool keratin, we selectively fixed
the cobalt atoms in the wool fibers with a high loading of 4.76 wt% after
carbonization. The as obtained cobalt sulphide supported by N,P-doped carbons
further contributed to the water splitting reaction. The Fix-Co catalysts
possessed a favourable HER (ƞ10= 90 mV)/OER (ƞ10= 295 mV) activity in 1.0M KOH.
The as-fabricated electrolyser exhibited a low cell voltage of 1.62 V at 10 mA
cm-2 with low current decay (~ 4.7%) after 15 hrs operation. Compared with that
of physically adsorbed cobalt ions (Ads-Co), the superior electrochemical
activity of Fix-Co originated from the well-constructed pore system,
synergistic effect between Co9S8 and phosphorus doping, and good conductivity
of carbon frameworks.
Apart
from the electrochemical measurement, a flexible and wearable device based on
Fix-Co catalysts has been designed and constructed. By adopting the concept of
hydrogel spacer and moisture capturing salts, the wearable device can
effectively adsorb humid, and convert moisture to hydrogen gas with a stable
working current under a 3.0 V input. This work demonstrated a strategy to
utilize the recycled wool keratin as precursors for the synthesis of
transition-metal based electrocatalysts and personalized device.
Language
English
Fee
Free
of Charge
Speakers
Professor Bin FEI is a Master program leader from the
School of Fashion & Textiles, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He
obtained BSc from the University of Science & Technology of China, and PhD
from the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
His current research focuses on Protective Textiles and Functional Fibers,
Smart Polymers & Sustainable Composites, as well as Energy Materials &
Wearable Electronics. So far, he has successfully supervised over 10 PhD
students and 30 postdoctoral fellows, and completed projects with funding over
HK$30 million. His materials group has produced over 150 SCI publications with
H-index of 50. He is ranked as Top 2% of Scientists in the World.
Registration
Please complete the on-line registration at https://polyu.hk/DUmyf. Successful applicants will be
informed by email and provided a link to the Zoom Meeting at the designated
time slot.