Monash Researchers Develop Scalable Single-Atom Catalysts for Clean Energy

Monash University spinout ElectraLith named in Forbes Asia 100 To Watch 2025. ElectraLith was spun out of Monash Chemical and Biological Engineering based on research from Professor Huanting Wang, Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor and Australian Research Council (ARC) Laureate Fellow, along with his research team. Now based in the Monash Innovation Labs, ElectraLith's proprietary Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE-R) offers a more sustainable and efficient method for lithium production. Unlike traditional methods, DLE-R eliminates the need for water and chemicals, significantly reducing its environmental impact and cost. DLE-R has produced battery grade lithium hydroxide from a range of sources, including from a highly contaminated and low concentration brine from the Paradox Basin in the United States, making it a game-changer for the industry. Read the full article in Forbes Asia LLC here https://lnkd.in/dTxKYtew Learn more about ElectraLith here https://lnkd.in/g-DqTUz4 Monash Engineering #ThisIsMonashEngineering #GreenLithium #DeepTech #DirectLithiumExtraction #Innovation #Collaboration Watch video here https://lnkd.in/gEgy8mmY

Excited to share that our new article has just been published in Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering. "Dual-functional electrocatalysts based on phosphide/LDH heterostructures for sustainable and energy-saving hydrogen production and urea oxidation" This work focuses on designing efficient nanostructured electrocatalysts for hydrogen production and urea oxidation, aiming to pave the way toward clean and sustainable energy solutions. I would like to sincerely thank my brilliant postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Sima Amanian , for her invaluable contribution and collaboration in this study. Looking forward to future advancements in the field of green hydrogen and electrocatalysis. https://lnkd.in/ezfUMvqw

📢 Thrilled to share our latest publication in Advances in Colloid and Interface Science, Elsevier – ranked #1 in Colloid and Surface Chemistry (Chemical Engineering) and #3 in Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, with an impressive Impact Factor of 19.3 and CiteScore of 29.7! 🚀 📝 Title: Toward green and sustainable dielectric nanofluids: surfactant impacts on stability, properties, and regulations 🔗 DOI: https://lnkd.in/dzB4MNhG 🌱 This review explores how surfactants influence the stability, dielectric, and thermal performance of nanofluids used in power transformers and other high-voltage applications. 🔍 Key Takeaways: -Surfactant-treated nanofluids can boost: -Breakdown voltage by up to 93.17% -Dielectric constant by 47.4% -Thermal conductivity by 216.2% It also addresses sustainability — biodegradability, toxicity, and compliance — and introduces eco-friendly surfactant design principles. 💡 The review bridges theory and practice, offering a roadmap to develop stable, high-performance, and environmentally safe dielectric nanofluids — a step forward for next-gen electrical insulation and cooling technologies. Kudos to all co-authors and collaborators! 🙌, and thankful to United Arab Emirates University for the support. Dr. Rizwan Farade #DielectricNanofluids #GreenTech #Sustainability #Surfactants #TransformerOil #EnergyInnovation #ResearchImpact #MaterialsScience

Spotlight on Sk Md Ali Zaker Shawon: Advancing Membrane and Electrochemical Separation Technologies for Sustainable Chemical Processes. 🌟 Sk Md Ali Zaker Shawon, a Ph.D. candidate in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at Vanderbilt University, is advancing sustainable technologies in the Shihong Lin Research Group. His research focuses on developing high-performance pervaporation membranes for energy-efficient organic solvent dehydration and engineering modified electrodes for resource recovery from wastewater. By leveraging his experience at the Vanderbilt Institute of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (VINSE), he aims to transform separation processes into sustainable solutions that align with global sustainability goals and support a circular economy. 🌍💧 Read more: https://ow.ly/kzXh50WMppt #PhD #Sustainability #CleanEnergy

Monash University spinout ElectraLith named in Forbes Asia 100 To Watch 2025. ElectraLith was spun out of Monash Chemical and Biological Engineering based on research from Professor Huanting Wang, Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor and Australian Research Council (ARC) Laureate Fellow, along with his research team. Now based in the Monash Innovation Labs, ElectraLith's proprietary Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE-R) offers a more sustainable and efficient method for lithium production. Unlike traditional methods, DLE-R eliminates the need for water and chemicals, significantly reducing its environmental impact and cost. DLE-R has produced battery grade lithium hydroxide from a range of sources, including from a highly contaminated and low concentration brine from the Paradox Basin in the United States, making it a game-changer for the industry. Read the full article in Forbes Asia LLC here https://lnkd.in/dTxKYtew Learn more about ElectraLith here https://lnkd.in/g-DqTUz4 Monash Engineering #ThisIsMonashEngineering #GreenLithium #DeepTech #DirectLithiumExtraction #Innovation #Collaboration Watch video here https://lnkd.in/gEgy8mmY

🚀 Breakthrough in CO₂ Reduction! We’re proud to share that Dr. Shaoyun Hao, a 2018 Master’s graduate of North China University of Science and Technology (NCUST) and now a postdoctoral researcher at Rice University, has published a pioneering research paper as first author in Science, one of the world’s most prestigious academic journals. 📄 Paper Title: Acid-humidified CO₂ gas input for stable electrochemical CO₂ reduction reaction 🔬 The study tackles a long-standing challenge in the field of membrane electrode electrolysis: long-term operational instability. According to Science editors, the research demonstrates that introducing trace volatile acids into CO₂ gas flow can prevent salt precipitation, enabling electrochemical CO₂ reduction to run continuously for up to 4,500 hours. This is a major leap forward for sustainable carbon conversion technologies and a proud moment for both NCUST and the scientific community at large. 👏 Congratulations to Dr. Hao on this impactful contribution! #ScientificBreakthrough #Electrochemistry #CO2Reduction #SustainableTech #ClimateSolutions #MaterialsScience #CarbonNeutrality #NCUST #RiceUniversity #ScienceMagazine #ResearchExcellence #GreenEnergy #PostdocSuccess #CleanTech

Smarter catalysts and stronger batteries: a leap for clean energy  As the world pushes toward clean energy, better batteries are key. Metal-air batteries could be game-changing. They store more energy than today’s lithium-ion batteries and could power everything from electric vehicles to aerospace systems. But they face a big hurdle: slow oxygen reactions that limit efficiency and shorten their lifespan. To solve this, researchers from Monash Chemical and Biological Engineering created CoFe-2DSA, a new catalyst made from cobalt and iron atoms spread across ultra-thin, porous carbon sheets. This smart design speeds up the crucial oxygen reactions, making the batteries far more efficient and durable. In testing, batteries using this material showed:  🔹 Higher energy storage  🔹 Greater power output  🔹 Remarkable stability over thousands of cycles This breakthrough shows how new materials at the atomic scale can unlock the full potential of next-generation, sustainable energy storage. Of the research, Dr Parama Chakraborty Banerjee says “These catalysts not only solve a key bottleneck for zinc-air batteries, but their design principles can be applied to other clean energy technologies - from fuel cells to water splitting - offering broad impact across the energy landscape.” Read the article in Elsevier's Chemical Engineering Journal here https://lnkd.in/g2VCUVMM Learn more in @AuManufacturing news and media here https://lnkd.in/gyjyxzf7 Monash Engineering Monash University Saeed Askari Dr Swarit Dwivedi Dr Kang Hui LIM, PhD Masood S. Alivand Parisa Biniaz Dr Ali Zavabeti Associated Professor Sibudjing Kawi Professor Matthew Hill #AdriCTvanDuin Professor Akshat Tanksale Professor Mainak Majumder #ThisIsMonashEngineering #ZincAirBatteries #AtomicPrecision #CleanEnergy #DurablePerformance #Innovation #GlobalImpact

🔬 Exciting Breakthrough in Solid-State Battery Research! A team led by prof Guosheng Shao, from Zhengzhou University, employed density functional theory (DFT) first-principles modeling to guide the dual-site alloying modification of traditional rare-earth metal-based halide Li₃YCl₆. This involved substituting 1/3 of Y with Cr and 1/8 of Cl with Br, leading to the design and synthesis of the LYCCB series of spinel-like halide solid-state electrolytes. This innovation addresses the issues of scarce rare-earth resources, high costs, and insufficient room-temperature lithium-ion conductivity associated with traditional halide electrolytes. The research findings were published in the journal Chemical Engineering Journal under the title "Rational design and realization of more sustainable spinel-like halides as fast ionic conductor for high-voltage all solid-state batteries." This study, employing a combined computational-experimental framework, provides a key material solution for high-voltage all-solid-state lithium batteries. The developed LYCCB series electrolytes not only address the issues of resource scarcity, high cost, and insufficient conductivity in traditional halide electrolytes but also achieve excellent battery cycling and rate performance through stable electrode-electrolyte interface design. Furthermore, it offers a ‘dual-site alloying’ strategy for the future design of low-cost solid-state electrolytes, marking a significant step forward toward the practical application of all-solid-state lithium batteries. https://lnkd.in/eP73ESvN #SolidStateBatteries #EnergyStorage #Sustainability #MaterialsScience #BatteryTechnology #ResearchInnovation #GreenEnergy #LithiumIon #Science #Engineering

Cations are essential for electrochemical CO2 reduction. But free cations don't exist in solution. They are hydrated. In this paper, https://lnkd.in/d2PVWa8c, we can use a thin layer of organic molecules, chemically attached to the catalyst surface, to partially dehydrate cations. This increases the CO2 reduction efficiency, including higher reaction rates and better selectivity for C2+ products. This work brings a new understanding of CO2 reduction, as well as a new tool to improve it. Congratulations to lead author Miyeon Chang This work is a major part of her PhD thesis which is soon to be concluded. Hu's lab at EPFL EPFL Chemistry

Thrilled to announce the acceptance of our paper in Sustainable Energy & Fuels from the Royal Society of Chemistry. Our research, titled "Tunable Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolving Activity of Nickel-dithiolene Coordination Polymers," explores how we can manipulate the intrinsic properties, such as the film thickness and surface morphology of a nickel-triphenylenehexathiolate coordination polymer, to tune its electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity. This work highlights a significant advance in materials synthesis, with a mild one-pot solvothermal method leading to a nanocluster morphology that resulted in a tunable catalytic overpotential and a 91% faradaic efficiency for hydrogen production. Grateful for the incredible teamwork with my co-authors Tyler Pham, and Prof. Smaranda Marinescu! Check out the full findings here: https://lnkd.in/dUMqH-wB #Chemistry #MaterialsScience #HydrogenEconomy #Electrochemistry #Sustainability #Research #MaterialChemistry