MSE Seminar: “Electrochemistry of Tungsten Oxides: From Insertion to Interfacial Phenomena”

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Abstract

With its corner-sharing arrangement of octahedral units, tungsten trioxide (WO3) is a flexible ion insertion host studied for decades as an electrode for electrochromic and energy storage applications. More recently, ion insertion into WO3 has been considered for neuromorphic computing applications.

Our group utilizes WO3, along with its related tungstic acids (WO3×nH2O) and suboxides (WO3-x), as a model system to probe the relationships between material composition and structure and the resulting electrochemical behavior. The presence of structural water interrupts the corner-sharing network of WO3 and leads to layered materials, whereas the removal of oxygen leads to the formation of crystallographic shear phases. These changes provide a rich variable space for investigating structure-electrochemical property behavior while maintaining similar surface area and morphology, which would otherwise also influence the electrochemical response.

I will describe our findings into the role of structural water on proton and cation insertion kinetics, as well as its impact on the emergence of dual-band electrochromism. I will also describe the influence of lattice connectivity on cation insertion. Finally, I will describe how proton insertion is necessary for surface reactivity for the hydrogen evolution reaction, highlighting the link between bulk insertion and interfacial phenomena.

Bio

Veronica Augustyn, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, MSE
North Carolina State University

Dr. Veronica Augustyn is the Jake and Jennifer Hooks Distinguished Scholar in Materials Science and Engineering and Associate Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at North Carolina State University. She received her B.S. from the University of Arizona and Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, both in Materials Science and Engineering. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the Texas Materials Institute, University of Texas at Austin. Her research focuses on the electrochemistry of materials for energy and environmental applications, including interfacial phenomena, insertion mechanisms, and confinement effects.

She is the recipient of several awards, including the National Science Foundation CAREER, the Department of Energy Early Career, and Sloan Research Fellowship. She is also the founder and faculty advisor of an award-winning international project, SciBridge, a student-led group that develops renewable energy research and education collaborations between universities in Africa and the U.S. She is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Materials Chemistry A and Materials Advances, and serves on the editorial advisory boards of ACS Energy Letters, Physical Review Materials, Energy Storage Materials, and ACS Nanoscience Au.