A diverse array of synthetic ways and strategies will be investigated, such as the 'ship in a bottle' strategy and the usage of solvents and pre-formed nanoparticles to synthesize the Nanoparticle functionalised MOFs (NP@MOFs). Also, the synthesis via Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) will be investigated, where gas-phase volatile organometallics (NP precursors) will be utilised. Such materials can effectively contribute towards the catalysis (photo-electrochemical catalysis) and energy storage as electrodes for supercapacitors and Li-ion batteries. Another potential application is the effective hydrogen storage and the electrochemical energy storage. For hydrogen storage applications, MOFS have been tested due to their high porosity and large surface area (can be used to trap hydrogen molecules). The addition of NPs into MOFs can effectively increae the amount of hydrogen storage and the kinetics of sorption/release and also might decrease the operation temperatures in order to achieve the Department of Energy (DOE) targets for on-board hydrogen storage for fuel cell vehicles. The addition of the NPs will result in a highly dense packing condition at ambient pressure and temperature; thus will imporve the storage capacity. The NPs that will be investigated will focus (but not limited) to the family of Pt-based NPs. Finally, several coatings will be investigated in order to increase even more the storage capacity.
Ilias Ntoukas was born in Greece. He completed his BSc (Hons) degree in the department of Materials Science at the University of Patras in 2019. His final year project Thesis was in the field of the development of novel processes and materials for hydrogen production with the utilisation of photoelectrochemical cells. Currently, Ilias is undertaking his PhD at the Centre for Advanced Low Carbon Propulsion Systems (C-ALPS), Institute for Future Transport and Cities where the main focus of his research is towards the development of novel nanostructures and systems for energy storage applications.
Evangelos Gkanas is the Founder and Leader of the Hydrogen for Mobility Research Lab. He has a background in Material Science and the synthesis and characterisation of novel materials for energy storage as well as simulating the performance of the materials. His research interests cover areas such as energy storage, smart materials, nanomaterials, heat and mass tranfer pehnomena, energy harvesting and low energy buildings. He is an active member of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy.
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