Our work spans four connected threads. Materials and interfaces set what a cell can do; cell and stack engineering decide what it does in practice; and models tie the two together — predicting performance, degradation, and cost at system scale.
Proton exchange membrane electrolysis is the workhorse of dynamic green hydrogen production. We focus on the parts that limit it: how gas and water move through porous transport layers and flow fields, and how cells and stacks degrade under real operating profiles.
X-ray CT-resolved microstructure, microporous layers by decal transfer, and structure–transport relationships that guide PTL design for high current density.
Anode channel geometry optimization with two-phase CFD, oxygen bubble dynamics, and water management from channel to catalyst layer.
Differential-pressure stack design (30 bar H₂ / 1 bar O₂), membrane degradation, and H₂ crossover safety across the operating window.
Ir-based catalysts and supports engineered to break the activity–stability trade-off in the acidic oxygen evolution reaction.
Alkaline systems carry most of the world's installed electrolysis capacity — but they were built for steady operation, not renewables. We re-engineer electrodes, separators, and stacks for the dynamic, intermittent reality of green hydrogen.
Ni-based and phosphide electrodes designed to survive start–stop cycling, reverse currents, and intermittent renewable profiles.
Composite separators with reduced gas crossover, recombination-catalyst-embedded designs for high-pressure operation, and durable anion exchange membranes with partners.
Shunt-current modeling in multi-cell stacks, reverse-current protection at shutdown, and high-temperature high-current-density operation.
Design, fabrication, and evaluation of anion exchange membrane electrolysis short stacks toward economical high-efficiency systems.
The same engineering that makes electrolyzers work — gas-diffusion electrodes, transport layers, wetting control — decides whether CO₂ electrolysis can make fuels at practical rates. We carry our electrolysis toolkit into CO₂-to-formate conversion.
PTL microstructure optimized for CO₂-to-formate electrolysis, connecting X-ray CT geometry to gas access and product removal.
Cathode flow fields with engineered wetting patterns that manage liquid products and gas feed in membrane-electrode-assembly cells.
Electric double layer control — including plasmon-driven approaches — to steer selectivity between competing reduction pathways.
Models are how single-cell measurements become stack lifetime predictions and plant economics. We build physics-based electrochemical models, degradation diagnostics, and techno-economic analyses that close the loop between the lab and the field.
Electrochemical models of PEM and alkaline systems — from membrane transport and H₂ crossover to shunt currents in multi-cell stacks — validated against our own cell data.
Model-based diagnosis that separates catalyst, membrane, and interface losses from polarization and impedance data, tracking health over thousands of hours.
Scaling electrochemical models that carry lab-scale parameters to commercial cell areas and stack counts for next-generation PEM electrolysis.
How degradation, intermittency, and capacity factors shape the levelized cost of hydrogen — connecting engineering choices to project economics.
Every thread combines three capabilities under one roof — so a hypothesis can go from a CT scan to a validated model to a stack test without leaving the lab.
X-ray computed tomography and operando imaging of transport layers, electrodes, and two-phase flow.
Single-cell to short-stack stations for PEM, alkaline, and AEM systems — including high-pressure and dynamic-profile operation.
Physics-based simulation from pore-scale transport to stack electrical networks and plant-level economics.