Nanostructured Materials for Applications in Fuel Cells, Heterogeneous Catalysis and Photocatalysis

About the Project

In the Baker group we are always looking for excellent, well-motivated scientists to carry out PhD research with us.

Our main activities relate to the preparation of nanostructured and functional materials for applications as active components in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs), heterogeneous catalysts and photocatalysts. Recent projects have involved development of novel electrolyte materials and fuel catalysts for SOFCs, dehydrochlorination of chlorinated waste solvents, alcohol reforming catalysts for SOFCs, and photocatalysts for destruction of dye pollutants and for solar hydrogen generation. Materials are often based on mixed metal oxides with Fluorite, Spinel or Perovskite structures, with and without addition of additional phases such as metal nanoparticles. We also work on highly porous materials such as Metal-Organic Framework materials and Ordered Mesoporous Carbons for applications such as gas separation and storage, and catalysis. Our materials are characterised using XRD, XPS, gas physisorption, Solid State NMR, Raman and IR spectroscopies, and, in particular, using high performance electron microscopy (SEM, S/TEM, both with X-ray spectroscopy, by EDS). We are fortunate that the School of Chemistry has excellent facilities for materials characterisation using these and other techniques. The performance of our materials are then evaluated - depending on the intended final application - using experimental stations in the group for temperature-programmed desorption, reduction and reaction with analysis by mass spectrometer (TPD-MS, TPR-MS, TPRx-MS), for high temperature electrochemical testing (impedance spectroscopy, I-V measurements, cyclic voltammetry etc.), or in a dedicated photocatalysis reactor system. Recent examples of our published articles and a link to fuller details on our webpage are provided with this advert.

Please see Postgraduate research - School of Chemistry - University of St Andrews for the application procedure, or email chem-pg@st-andrews.ac.uk for more information regarding PhD opportunities at St Andrews. We encourage applications for the NextGenTech Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT Next Generation Technologies – NexGenTech) and from Chinese nationals through the St Andrews CSC Scheme (China Scholarship Council - Global partnerships and study abroad - University of St Andrews). There are opportunities for self-funded PhD students to make use of the St Andrews Handsel Scheme to fund the difference between home and international fees.

Funding Notes

References

1. Metal- and Halogen- free Synthesis of Ordered Mesoporous Carbon Materials, F. Sakina, R.T. Baker, Micropor. Mesopor. Mat. 289 (2019) 109622.
2. Oxygen Ion Conductivity in Ceria-based Electrolytes Co-doped with Samarium and Gadolinium, A.V. Coles-Aldridge, R.T. Baker, Solid State Ionics 347 (2020) 115255.
3. Methanol reforming by nanostructured Pd/Sm-doped ceria catalysts, M.R. Kosinski, A. J. Vizcaíno, L.M. Gómez-Sainero, A. Carrero, R.T. Baker, Appl. Catal. B 286 (2021) 119935
4. Efficient Batch and Fixed-Bed Sequestration of a Basic Dye using a Novel Variant of Ordered Mesoporous Carbon as Adsorbent, A. Mariyam, J. Mittal, F. Sakina, R.T. Baker, A.K. Sharma and A. Mittal, Arabian Journal of Chemistry 14 (2021) 103186.
5. Boosting the electrochemical performance of oxygen electrodes via the formation of LSCF-BaCe0.9–xMoxY0.1O3–δ triple conducting composite for solid oxide fuel cells: Part II, M.B Hanif, S. Rauf, A. Sultan, K. Kashif, S. Qayyum, H. Makarov, D. Madej, W. Łasocha, T. Roch, M. Mosiałek, R.T. Baker, and M. Motola, Energy 289 (2024) 129985.
6. Ordered Mesoporous Ceria and Cerium Gadolinium Oxide Prepared by Vacuum-Assisted Nanocasting, T.A Dougherty, R.T. Baker, Nanomaterials, 14 (2024) 651.
7. Synthesis of high surface area mesoporous ZnAl2O4 with excellent photocatalytic activity for the photodegradation of Congo Red dye, S.A.A Shah, N. Gkoulemani, J.T.S. Irvine, M.T. Sajjad, R.T. Baker. J. Catal. 439 (2024) 115769.
8. Breaking the capacity limit for WO3 anode-based Li-ion batteries using photo-assisted charging, R. Khatoon, M. Nazir, R.T. Baker, M. Billing, S. Babar, S. Kellici, S. Dunn, and M.T. Sajjad, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2025, 2501498.
9. Evaluation of Cu- and Mn-Doped Co3O4/NiO Composites as Cathodes for Intermediate Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, S.A.A. Shah, A. Sultan, K. Zheng, M.T. Sajjad, R.T. Baker, J. Mater. Chem. A (2025) 13, 29486 DOI: 10.1039/D5TA03764F