Designing Electrochemical Surfaces and Interfaces for Catalysis, Separation Membranes, and Sensors

Designing Electrochemical Surfaces and Interfaces for Catalysis, Separation Membranes, and Sensors

Jesse D. Benck

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, benck@mit.edu

Research Interests:

My research interests focus on electrochemical technologies including electrocatalysts, separation membranes, and sensors. In particular, I am interested in studying the fundamental properties of surfaces and interfaces that control adsorption, reaction, and permeation processes relevant to these technologies. I aim to develop an experimental research program with the capabilities to fabricate materials with atomically-precise surfaces and interfaces, characterize these materials using in situ microscopy and spectroscopy, and test their electrochemical performance. Through these efforts, I hope to reveal physical insights that can be used to design new materials and devices that can address global challenges in energy, water, and health.

My research program will focus on the following areas:

1.     Electrocatalysis for efficient energy conversion.
Understanding how electrocatalyst composition, chemical state, and surface structure determine catalytic activity will enable the design of improved catalysts for electrochemical energy conversion reactions such as water oxidation and carbon dioxide reduction.

2.     Nanoporous membranes for selective and efficient electrochemical separations.
Studying the relationship between the size, shape, and functionalization of nanoscale pores in two-dimensional materials with the flux of ionic or molecular species through these pores will enable the design of high-performance membranes for water purification, desalination, and electrochemical energy conversion devices.

3.     Selective adsorption at electrochemical interfaces.
Understanding how three-dimensionally structured inorganic materials and macromolecule-functionalized interfaces can form adsorption sites tailored to bind specific molecules will enable the design of sensors and electrocatalysts with precise molecular selectivity.

My previous research on electrochemical devices and gas separation membranes has prepared me to lead this proposed research program.

My PhD research with Professor Thomas F. Jaramillo in the Stanford University Department of Chemical Engineering focused on electrocatalysis and photoelectrochemistry for solar hydrogen production. I developed nonprecious metal sulfide and phosphide electrocatalysts for the electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction. Using in situ microscopy and spectroscopy to study the catalyst structure and composition enabled me to identify the properties that controlled activity. I also designed and fabricated silicon and III-V semiconductor photoelectrodes with integrated catalyst and surface protecting layers for H₂ production via photoelectrochemical water splitting, focusing on improving device stability. I created a photovoltaic-electrolyzer system with world record solar-to-hydrogen efficiency. These experimental studies were all guided by technoeconomic analysis and numerical simulations of solar hydrogen production systems.

My postdoctoral research with Professor Michael S. Strano in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Chemical Engineering focused on nanoporous graphene membranes for gas mixture separations. Atomically thin graphene membranes have the potential to separate gas mixtures with extremely high flux and selectivity, leading to reduced energy consumption. I developed a procedure for fabricating suspended graphene membranes and measuring gas permeation and mixture separation selectivity across these membranes using on-line mass spectrometry. Through characterization and modeling of the nanopores, we took initial steps towards understanding the relationship between atomic-scale pore structure and gas permeance, which forms the foundation for the design of membranes with nanopores tuned for excellent separation performance.

At the poster session, I will provide a more complete account of my research experience and plans for my future research program.

Teaching Interests:

Throughout my education, I have been deeply devoted to developing my skills as a teacher and mentor. During graduate school, I was a teaching assistant for two years, and I received a Stanford Department of Chemical Engineering Outstanding Teaching Assistant award both years. I later served as the Stanford Chemical Engineering Department's head mentor teaching assistant to help younger graduate students develop their teaching skills. I founded and led an independent study course called Stanford ChemEng 432, “Introduction to Electrochemistry.” In my final year at Stanford, I became a graduate teaching fellow and the primary instructor for an undergraduate elective course titled Stanford ChemEng 25E, “Energy: Chemical Transformations in Production, Storage and Use,” and as a postdoctoral researcher, I gave a guest lecture in the MIT graduate-level course 10.585, “Engineering Nanotechnology.” In addition, I have substantial experience mentoring many undergraduate and young graduate students in the lab.

Continuing to improve my skills as a teacher and mentor will be an important goal throughout my career as a faculty member. I am interested in teaching Chemical Engineering core courses including kinetics, thermodynamics, and separations, as well as developing elective courses related to my research interests, such as an “Electrochemical Energy Conversion” class. I also look forward to the many teaching opportunities that arise in a laboratory setting. As a research advisor I will focus on helping undergraduate and graduate students to develop their skills as independent scientists.

Selected Publications:

Full publication list on Google Scholar profile: http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=bM3D8a8AAAAJ&hl=en

1.     J.D. Benck, Z. Chen, L.Y. Kuritzky, A.J. Forman, and T.F. Jaramillo. "Amorphous Molybdenum Sulfide Catalysts for Electrochemical Hydrogen Production: Insights into the Origin of their Catalytic Activity." ACS Catalysis, 2012. 2 (9): 1916-1923. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/cs300451q

2.     B.A. Pinaud, J.D. Benck, L.C. Seitz, A.J. Forman, Z.B. Chen, T.G. Deutsch, B.D. James, K.N. Baum, G.N. Baum, S. Ardo, H.L. Wang, E. Miller, and T.F. Jaramillo. "Technical and economic feasibility of centralized facilities for solar hydrogen production via photocatalysis and photoelectrochemistry." Energy & Environmental Science, 2013. 6 (7): 1983-2002. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C3EE40831K

3.     J.D. Benck, S.C. Lee, K.D. Fong, J. Kibsgaard, R. Sinclair, and T.F. Jaramillo. "Designing Active and Stable Silicon Photocathodes for Solar Hydrogen Production Using Molybdenum Sulfide Nanomaterials." Advanced Energy Materials, 2014, 4: 1400739. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201400739

4.     J.D. Benck,* T.R. Hellstern,* J. Kibsgaard, P. Chakthranont, and T.F. Jaramillo. “Catalyzing the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER) with Molybdenum Sulfide Nanomaterials." ACS Catalysis, 2014, 4: 3957-3971. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/cs500923c

5.     T.R. Hellstern,* J.D. Benck,* J. Kibsgaard, C. Hahn, and T.F. Jaramillo. "Engineering Cobalt Phosphide (CoP) Thin Film Catalysts for Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution Activity on Silicon Photocathodes." Advanced Energy Materials, 2016. 6 (4). http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201501758

6.     S.C. Lee, J.D. Benck, C. Tsai, J. Park, A.L. Koh, F. Abild-Pedersen, T.F. Jaramillo, and R. Sinclair. "Chemical and Phase Evolution of Amorphous Molybdenum Sulfide Catalysts for Electrochemical Hydrogen Production." ACS Nano, 2016. 10 (1): 624-632. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.5b05652

7.     J. Jia,* L.C. Seitz,* J.D. Benck,* Y. Huo, Y. Chen, J.W.D. Ng, T. Bilir, J.S. Harris, and T.F. Jaramillo. “Solar water splitting by PV-electrolysis with a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency over 30%.” Nature Communications, 2016. 7: 13237. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13237

8.     K.V. Agrawal,* J.D. Benck,* Z. Yuan, R.P. Misra, A. Govind Rajan, Y. Eatmon, S. Kale, X.S. Chu, D.O. Li, C. Gong, J. Warner, Q.H. Wang, D. Blankschtein, and M.S. Strano. "Fabrication, Pressure Testing and Nanopore Formation of Single Layer Graphene Membranes." The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b01796

*Equally contributing authors