The Laboratory of Electrochemical Engineering (LEE) participated in the 36th Samahang Pisika ng Pilipinas (SPP) Conference at Puerto Princesa, Palawan last June 6-9, 2018. Two laboratory members presented their work on density functional theory towards materials discovery for heterogeneous and/or electrocatalysis.
Beatriz Andrea Tan, an undergraduate member, presented her work on H2O adsorption on the (101) facet of nickel selenide (NiSe). This work is geared towards determining and elucidating ORR/OER activity on NiSe. In particular, NiSe was found in previous studies to be active for OER but ORR only proceeds up to peroxide formation. Nickel selenides are currently being examined by LEE as a possible material for ORR/OER.
Ace Christian Serraon, taking up MS ChE and doing research under LEE, also presented his work on monoatomic substitution of scandium and yttrium on graphene. This study was motivated by the newly-discovered scandium reserves in the Philippines and the quest to find more economic applications for this element.
A wide range of speakers from diverse topics in physics, from quantum computing to theoretical physics to complex systems, attended the event. This allowed the participants of the conference to be exposed to the latest and current developments and is helpful towards forming collaboration networks for further research endeavors.