Poster award for HZB doctoral student

Javier Villalobos has been awarded for the best poster at the International Workshop on Correlated Dynamics in Energy Conversion (IWCE 19) in Göttingen. The doctoral student works in the young investigator group "Oxygen Evolution Mechanism Engineering". His research contributes to a better understanding of electrocatalytic oxygen evolution.

On his poster, Javier Villalobos presented first results on the electrochemical synthesis of spinel oxides, which can be used as catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction. The title of his poster is "Fabrication of defined spinel oxides containing manganese and cobalt by electrodeposition as model electrodes for the oxygen evolution reaction".

The presented results are the first step towards developing a model system for systematic studies on such catalysts. It is crucial to deposit films with controlled composition and microstructure. These materials will soon be investigated using operando methods on BESSY II to better understand the known differences in activity.

"With his poster, Javier Villalobos laid the foundation for a better understanding of the oxygen evolution reaction in order to produce sustainable fuels based on water (e.g. hydrogen) more cheaply," explains Dr. Marcel Risch, supervisor of the project. Since March 2019, he has been setting up a young investigator group at HZB with a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC).