Two and a Half Bumps: How “Crystal Structure” Forms and Transforms in Ultrasmall Complex Oxide Electrocatalysts

PhD defence by Laura Glei Graversen

Assessment Committee

Associate Professor Høgni Weihe, Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen (Chairperson)
Professor Richard Walton, University of Warwick
Associate Professor Gilles Philippot, Universite de Bordeaux

Supervisors

Associate Professor Kirsten Marie Ørnsbjerg Jensen

Department

Department of Chemistry

Place

Building: August Krogh-Bygningen, Room: AUD 01, Universitetsparken 13, 2100 København

Email address to gain access to the thesis: lgg@chem.ku.dk.
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Short description of the thesis

To realise the promise of converting renewable electricity into chemical fuels through water electrolysis, more efficient and resource-conscious catalysts must be developed. This PhD thesis explores how atomic-scale control of complex metal oxides can reduce the use of scarce, expensive metals. Using advanced in situ and operando X-ray techniques, the work follows the formation and operation of metal oxide nanoparticles of increasing compositional complexity, containing up to five metals within a single crystal structure. By revealing how synthesis conditions govern atomic structure and how these structures evolve during catalysis, direct links are established between synthesis, structure, and performance. The resulting insights provide new design principles for efficient and durable electrocatalysts, supporting the development of more sustainable hydrogen technologies.