Event
CHBE Seminar: Dr. Yayuan Liu, Johns Hopkins University
Friday, September 8, 2023
11:00 a.m.
Room 2108 Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Building
Patricia Lorenzana
301 405 1935
plorenza@umd.edu
Molecules, Materials, and Processes for Electrifying Carbon Capture
Abstract:
Carbon capture is considered a critical means for climate change mitigation. Unfortunately, conventional amine scrubbing suffers from high energy consumption, corrosion, and sorbent degradation, motivating the search for more efficient carbon dioxide separation strategies. In this talk, I will share our research efforts on developing materials and processes for electrochemically-mediated carbon capture. I will first present a library of redox-tunable Lewis bases with sp2-nitrogen centers that can reversibly capture and release carbon dioxide through an electrochemical cycle. The mechanisms of the carbon capture process are elucidated via a combined experimental and computational approach, and we show that the properties of these Lewis base sorbents can be fine-tuned via rational molecular design and electrolyte engineering. I will then discuss challenges and opportunities for sorbent and electrochemical reactor designs toward practical carbon capture processes driven by electrochemical stimuli.
Bio:
Yayuan Liu joined the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Johns Hopkins University as an assistant professor in January 2022. Her research group works at the interface of chemical engineering, materials science, and electrochemistry to accelerate the realization of energy and environmental sustainability. She earned her Ph.D. in materials science and engineering in 2019 from Stanford University under the guidance of Dr. Yi Cui and completed her postdoctoral training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, working with Dr. T. Alan Hatton in the Department of Chemical Engineering. She has received multiple awards for her research, such as the NSF CAREER award, the Beckman Young Investigator award, and the Electrochemical Society Toyota Young Investigator award.
