Laura Gronewold
Laura Gronewold
Room: W3 3-363
Phone: +49441 798 3829
Email: laura.gronewold1@uni-oldenburg.de
Research field:
- Electrocatalysis
- Material science
- Development of metal-free catalysts for the release of hydrogen from ammonia
- Structural and morphological characterisation: XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM, ICP-OES,...
- Electrochemical activity tests of synthesised catalysts
PhD Thesis:
The dissertation project is pursuing the development of precious metal-free catalysts for the release of hydrogen from ammonia. The aim of the Lower Saxony-wide research project is to promote the use of ammonia as a hydrogen storage medium. The catalysts are primarily highly dispersed mixed metal oxyhydroxides from the elements of the iron group Fe, Co and Ni. Some catalysts are first synthesised as a powder and then applied to metal substrates, for example by doctor blading. Another option is to synthesise the catalysts directly as a film on the substrate. This is done, for example, by microwave synthesis or electrochemical deposition. The aim of the synthesis is to obtain homogeneous and stable film layers. The materials are then characterised in terms of their electronic structure and morphology using analytical methods such as XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM or ICP-OES. Furthermore, an electrochemical investigation is carried out in ammonia-containing solutions in order to evaluate the electrochemical activity of the catalyst. In this step, EIS and LSV/CV measurements are performed. Finally, the hydrogen release is quantified using GC.