Queen Mary University of London, School of Engineering and Materials Science

Abstract：Carbon is the most versatile element known. It combines with other (carbon) atoms giving rise to new carbon materials with astonishing properties. We have demonstrated that it is possible to mimicking the natural process of carbon formation and prepare carbon nanomaterials from biomass using mild hydrothermal processes. Along with amorphous carbon materials (denoted HTC), this procedure also enables biomass transformation into useful chemicals such as 5-hydroxymethylfurfural(5-HMF) or levulinic acid (LA). Recently, we have discovered a third product of Hydrothermal Carbonisation - a crystalline form of carbon - arising at the interface between the amorphous HTC microspheres and the aqueous phase containing the biomass-derived chemicals.

In this talk I will present some of the fundamentals governing the production of carbon nanomaterials and chemicals. We will also discuss the application of HTC materials in electrocatalytic reactions such as Oxygen Reduction Reaction and Oxygen Evolution Reaction.Finally, some of the photo-physics governing the optoelectronic properties of the new family of fluorescent hydrothermal carbon nanocrystals and their applications as sensitizers in solar cells will be presented.

Short bio：Magda Titirici has a PhD from University of Dortumnd, a German Habilitation from the Max-Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces and is currently a Professor of Sustainable Materials Chemistry at Queen Mary University of London.

Magda is the author of around highly cited 150 publications (h-index=62) in the field of sustainable materials for energy storage and conversion, several book chapters and one edited book. She is in the editorial board of ChemSusChem (Wiley) and ChemPlusChem (Wiley) and an associate editor for J. Mater. Chem. A (RSC).

Magda has been awarded the Rosenhain Medal and Price from the Institute of Materials and Mines in London in recognition of distinguished achievements in materials science under the age of 40 in 2016, she is the USERN laureate in physical sciences 2017 as well as the recipient of an honoray PhD from University of Stockholm in 2017, the Chinese Academy of Science President’s Fellowship in 2018 as well as the Royal Society of Chemistry Corday Morgan Prize 2018.

报告邀请人：胡勇胜研究员(82649808) 、陆雅翔副研究员(82649047)