Curriculum Vitae

I received my Master's Degree in Polymer Science and Technology from Middle East Technical University, Turkey. My PhD studies brought me to Austria and I completed my PhD in Physical Chemistry (2018) at Johannes Kepler University Linz under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Niyazi Serdar Sariciftci. During my PhD studies I had the chance to visit Yamagata University in Japan and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories in the USA for research visits. Following my PhD studies, I joined the Institue of Science and Technology as a postdoctoral researcher (2018) and took active part in setting up the first chemistry laboratory in the institute. In 2020 I joined the group of Molecular Materials Chemistry as a Team Leader working towards my habilitation on the photoelectrocatalysis, CO2 utilization and nitrogen activation. 

To this date I have authored/co-authored more than 50 publications and delivered 15 talk/invited talks in conferences. In addition, I engage in public outreach activities such as Lectures4Future, Open House Days (organized by TU Wien) and Long Night of Research (Lange Nacht der Forschung, organized by TU Wien).

Research

My research focusses on the development of organic-inorganic hybrid materials for photoelectrocatalytic applications and the tuning of metal surface chemistry to influence catalysis kinetics. During my research activities I have gained experience in in-situ spectroelectrochemistry (UV-Vis, ATR-FTIR) for the characterisation of materials under applied potential. My research focuses on the capture and utilisation of carbon dioxide and photoelectrocatalytic hydrogen formation.

[Translate to English:] MOCHAs

© Hannah Rabl

 Metal Organic Chalcogenolate Assemblies (MOCHAs) are an emerging class of 1D and 2D organic-inorganic hybrid materials. Early stages of MOCHA research have focused on the synthesis and structural characterization of MOCHAs as well as their physicochemical properties. However, the low synthetic yield prevented them to be utilized in various applications. Recently, our group overcame this barrier by introducing a microwave-assisted synthesis method which increased the synthetic yield by x100. We utilize MOCHAs mainly in electrochemical CO2 conversion as efficient electrocatalysts.

[Translate to English:] Photokatalyse

© Jakob Blaschke

We utilize various Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) for the gas-phase photocatalytic CO2 reduction. MOFS are crystalline materials with a lot of surface area enabling more active sites for catalytic conversion. We use MOFs as photosensitizers and CO2 storage medium while we attach molecular/metal co-catalysts into the pores for photocatalytic CO2 conversion. Furthermore, we observe the reaction mechanism using operando Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (DRIFTS).

[Translate to English:] Wasserstoffentwicklung Grafik

© Dorottya Varga

Hydrogen has been hailed by the EU as the future energy resource and EU aim produce to 10 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030. However, currently only 3.9% of the worldwide hydrogen production comes from water electrolysis. The rest produced using fossil fuels causing green-house gas emissions. Green hydrogen production methods for a sustainable future are needed. On the other hand, cleaning of wastewater that are contaminated with persistent pollutants also pose a challenge. We tackle this problem an innovative reactor concept in collaboration with AEE-INTEC and GREENoneTEC that simultaneously remove pollutants from wastewater and produce green hydrogen. The project is funded by Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG).

[Translate to English:] Elektrokatalytische CO2-Reduktion Grafik

© Dorottya Varga

Formic acid is a versatile chemical that can serve as a renewable energy carrier, a platform chemical for various industries, and a means for CO2 capture and utilization. Electrochemical reduction of CO2 to formic acid is a promising technique because it offers high selectivity and tunability over the reaction. Formic acid is a promising Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier (LOHC), as it carries a relatively high amount of (4.3 mass%) of hydrogen while being an easily handleable chemical that is miscible with water and not chemically aggressive to many potential materials that can be used for fuel storage. Apart from that, formic acid is naturally occurring in many plants and, best known, ants.

In our laboratory, we convert CO2 to formate using p-block metals in combination with metal oxides. We also investigate the photoelectrochemical conversion of formic acid back to CO2 and hydrogen.

[Translate to English:] Green Hydrogen Grafik

© Stefan Pfaffel

Forschungsförderungen

Derzeit bin ich Co-PI in einem von der Österreichischen Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft (FFG) geförderten Solarreaktor-Projekt (2021-2024), das sich mit der gleichzeitigen Wasseraufbereitung und Wasserstoffentwicklung beschäftigt. Im Rahmen dieses Projekts betreue ich einen voll finanzierten Doktoranden (Jakob Blaschke) mit.

Publikationen

A complete list of my publications can be found on Google Scholar, opens an external URL in a new window.

Teaching

My current position offers me the opportunity to take part in various teaching activities, which are listed below:

  • 2020 - ongoing
    Assistant – 163.145 “LU Synthesis Laboratory Course”
  • 2021 - ongoing
    Assistant – 164.289 “LU Advanced ceramics and electrochemistry”
  • 2021 - ongoing
    Co-lecturer– 165.134 “SE Chemistry and Technology of Materials”
  • 2021 - ongoing
    Lecturer– 165.146 “VO Synthesis of Inorganic Materials”
  • 2021 - ongoing
    Lecturer– 165.147 “Inorganic Materials Chemistry"

Co-supervision of Master and PhD students

All dissertations are supervised by Prof Eder and co-supervised by me.

PhD students

  • Jakob Blaschke (01.2022 – ongoing)
  • Hannah Rabl (11.2022 – ongoing)
  • Stefan Pfaffel (09.2024 – ongoing)

Master students

  • Dorottya Varga (10.2023 – ongoing)
  • Nick Parak (07.2024 – ongoing)

 

[Translate to English:] Dogukan und Team

© Dogukan Apaydin