Please consider attending the following: MATERIALS ENGINEERING SEMINAR "First Principle Study of Transition Metal Based Electrocatalysts" By Jiaqi Yang Purdue MSE Ph.D. Preliminary Exam Advisor: Professor Peilin Liao ABSTRACT Electrocatalysts for the water splitting reaction and fuel cell reactions attract lots of efforts. The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are of great importance among these reactions. Noble metal based electrocatalysts are reported as the state-of-art in electrocatalysts of HER and ORR. However, the high price of noble metals is the key limit to use in large scale application. Transition metal and its nitrides are considered as promising candidates to replace noble metal based electrocatalysts. In order to find the ideal replacement, the screening on transition metal based electrocatalysts is of critical importance. This study is planning to focus on transition metal based electrocatalysts, especially the interfacial structure and transition metal nitride as Pt cluster substrate. The goal is to find favorable candidates for HER and ORR reactions, reveal the pattern of their electrocatalytical performance and eventually explain the mechanism of their enhancement. Date: Thursday, December 13, 2018 Time: 11:30 A.M. Place: ARMS 1021