Professor Linsey Seitz
Department of Chemical Engineering
Northwestern University
Tuning Dynamic Materials and Systems for Electrocatalytic Processes
Abstract:
Electrochemical environments provide a unique set of parameters to optimize catalyst material and reactor performance, including fine tuning via applied electric potentials, strong electric field effects, and solvent effects. In addition, they enable operate at atmospheric temperature and pressure, produce few pollutants, and provide a mechanism for storage and conversion of vital renewable electricity sources. Research in the Seitz group looks to exploit electrochemical processes and revolutionize catalytic processes at the foundation of our energy and chemical industries that are currently major drivers of climate change.
We use controlled material syntheses and advanced spectroscopy techniques to monitor dynamic behavior of catalysts in response to reaction conditions. Notably, we have developed several iridium-based perovskite materials to establish electronic structure effects associated with systematic changes in composition, crystallinity, and strain. We use these materials to elucidate trends in structural reorganization and degradation mechanisms induced by reaction operating conditions, exemplified with water oxidation in acidic conditions, for which active and stable catalyst development has been a longstanding challenge. We also investigate relationships between reactor bulk and catalyst local reaction environments to determine changes in reaction mechanism and product selectivity as a function of bulk electrolyte pH, concentration, cation identity, and operating potential. Understanding how to control complex electrochemical reaction mechanisms via catalyst and environment tuning is critical for reducing energy consumption and optimizing reaction selectivity towards desired product molecules that serve as critical building blocks for fuels and products that we rely on every day. We use controlled material syntheses and advanced spectroscopy techniques to monitor dynamic behavior of catalysts in response to reaction conditions. Notably, we have developed several iridium-based perovskite materials to establish electronic structure effects associated with systematic changes in composition, crystallinity, and strain. We use these materials to elucidate trends in structural reorganization and degradation mechanisms induced by reaction operating conditions, exemplified with water oxidation in acidic conditions, for which active and stable catalyst development has been a longstanding challenge.
Bio:
Linsey Seitz joined the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department at Northwestern University in 2018. She received her B.S. (2010) in Chemical Engineering from Michigan State University, supported with a full ride scholarship. She earned her M.S. (2013) and Ph.D. (2015) in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University supported as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow and later as a Stanford DARE Fellow. Linsey completed postdoctoral research at the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology with the Institute of Photon Science and Synchrotron Radiation, supported by a Helmholtz Postdoctoral Fellowship. Her research uses tools at the interface of electrochemistry and spectroscopy to investigate dynamic catalytic materials and reactions towards the sustainable production of fuels and upconversion of waste streams. Linsey is a three-time Scialog Fellow and was recognized as a “Pioneer of the Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Division” of AIChE in 2021.
Catalysis Club of Chicago 