Author: Anna Knudsen

Ruirui Liu is a PhD candidate from UNSW under the supervision of Prof. Chuan Zhao. Her research area is in Single-atom catalysts and device systems for CO₂ reduction. She is designing a single-atom catalyst to address the mass transfer limitations in CO₂ reduction reactions. Ruirui’s work has already shown promising results, and moving forward, she aims to scale up and translate her research into industrial applications.

What are you working on at the moment?

Currently, I’m working on designing a hierarchically porous single-atom Nickel (Ni) catalyst with nanoconfined ionic liquids for enhanced mass transfer in CO₂ electroreduction. Although there has been progress in the design of single-atom catalysts, the simple single-atom structure limits the number of available active sites. Given that CO₂ reduction is a complex three-phase reaction, the restricted number of active sites further challenges effective mass transfer across the three phases. Therefore, we are looking at combining porous engineering with surface modification as an effective strategy.

This approach improves the accessibility of active sites and enables more active sites to participate in the reaction. It also enhances the CO₂ diffusion and ions transport during the process, which increases the electrochemical performance even further.

Which of GETCO2’s Research Themes does it fit into and how?

My work fits into Theme 2 – Catalyst. For this work, we focus on developing advanced catalytic materials to make CO₂ electroreduction more efficient by improving mass transfer and reaction kinetics. The innovative design of the single-atom Ni catalysts with ordered hierarchical porosity and confined ionic liquids solves a key challenge of mass transfer in electrocatalysis, achieving high activity, selectivity, and stability. This aligns perfectly with the goals of the Catalyst Research Theme, which aims to push the boundaries of catalyst design for sustainable CO₂conversion.

What do you enjoy the most about this?

It’s exciting to see how small structural adjustments can lead to significant improvements of mass transfer during the CO₂reaction process, thereby improving reaction efficiency and selectivity. Also, contributing to sustainable energy solutions and addressing global challenges makes the work meaningful and rewarding.

What is the key challenge you are trying to overcome?

I think the biggest challenge for me is synthesising the materials. We need a highly uniform template to control the hierarchically porous structure effectively, but it is difficult to maintain precise experimental conditions.

Are there any technology applications or problems that your work might play a part in solving?

In our work, we develop a hierarchically porous single-atom Ni catalyst with nanoconfined ionic liquids that possess the CO₂ enrichment capability. Accordingly, we conducted tests under diluted CO₂ concentrations. The results show that, at low CO₂ concentrations, this material significantly enhances the CO partial current density compared to the normal single-atom NiNC. This discovery highlights the crucial role of the catalyst’s CO₂ enrichment capability and showcases its significant potential to solve the challenges of low activity and selectivity in CO₂ electroreduction under low CO₂ conditions.

Are there other GETCO2 members who might be able to help or you could collaborate with?

I hope we get an opportunity to collaborate with Assoc Prof. Tom Rufford and Prof. Xiwang Zhang. Beyond catalyst design, the development of a new device system and the anion exchange membrane is equally crucial for enhancing CO₂ diffusion and ion transport to improve overall performance. Looking ahead, I would like to optimise the CO₂ electroreduction system by integrating our designed catalyst with advanced electrolysers and membranes, further achieving industry-level performance.

From October 29-31, 2024, we hosted GETCO2’s First Retreat in the picturesque Yarra Valley, Victoria. This milestone event brought together researchers and students from our seven nodes, advisory committee members, associate investigators, and industry partners for the first time.

The retreat featured a mix of engaging research presentations, panel discussions, meetings, and workshops. One highlight was the “Intellectual Property – What Does It Mean to Researchers?” session led by solicitor and IP expert Johnathon Hall. He guided us through the complexities of Intellectual Property (IP) and patents, from idea to commercialisation, and facilitated an insightful panel discussion with our experienced researchers on protecting research innovations.

Another standout session, “Secrets to Success in Delivering a Great Academic Presentation,” was presented by Associate Professor Jingwei Hou. He shared his journey from a young, shy researcher to a confident presenter, offering valuable techniques such as effective body language, authenticity, and simplifying PowerPoint slides to keep the audience engaged.

During the retreat, we also laid the groundwork for forming an Early-/Mid-Career Researcher (EMCR) Committee to represent the voice of GETCO2 EMCRs. This committee will focus on mentoring, capacity building, and networking opportunities for our students and researchers. A dedicated working group presented suggestions for the upcoming work, including research exchange programs, an EMCR seminar series, and an online network hub.

The retreat provided ample time for our research theme and flagship group members to collaborate and refine the strategies for 2025, and for our Centre Management team to review the centre’s performance and develop the annual plan with input from our Advisory Committees, portfolios and node Directors.

Overall, the retreat laid a fantastic foundation for our collaborative efforts towards achieving our goals for 2025 and beyond.

Retreat Highlights

• Participants: 77, including:
  • 4 Advisory Committee Members
  • 8 Associate Investigators
  • 1 Casual researcher
  • 16 Chief Investigators
  • 1 Guest speaker
  • 25 PhD Students
  • 2 Partner Investigators
  • 16 Postdoctoral researchers
  • 4 Professional staff
• Activities: 33 presentations, meetings, workshops, and teambuilding activities
• Special Events:
  • 1 yoga session
  • 1 Halloween Dinner
  • countless kangaroos!

On July 30, 2024, GETCO2 held its inaugural industry workshop in conjunction with the launch of the new research centre at the University of Queensland.

The workshop aimed to engage industry partners early on, to better understand the sustainability, net zero, and decarbonisation challenges they face. Discussions also explored how GETCO2’s scientific and technological innovations could help address these critical challenges.

Chaired by industry expert Simon Smart, the panel featured distinguished speakers including Leeanne Bond, Sarah Ryan, and John McGagh. They provided valuable insights on the sustainability, net zero, and decarbonisation issues impacting Australian industry.

Our researchers, Fengwang Li, Chuan Zhao, Thomas Rufford and Ruth Knibbe presented on the potential of our science and technology innovations to meet these challenges, and GETCO2 Advisory Committee Chairs, Prof Robin Batterham and Dr Anita Hill, outlined the centre’s strategic focus areas going forward.

The GETCO2 Industry workshop discussions provided valuable input to help GETCO2 prepare for early collaborations with government and policymakers, and laid the foundations for working together toward the shared goal of decarbonisation.

The ARC Centre of Excellence for Green Electrochemical Transformation of Carbon Dioxide (GETCO2) has been officially launched at The University of Queensland, marking a significant milestone in the global effort to combat climate change.

The launch event featured distinguished speakers, including the Honourable Senator Anthony Chisholm, Assistant Minister for Education, Regional Development, Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry; Dr Richard Johnson, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Research Council (ARC), Professor Karen Hussey, Chair of the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee (ERAC), and Professor Aidan Byrne, Provost of The University of Queensland.

Centre Director Professor Xiwang Zhang highlighted the transformative potential of electrochemical conversion, stating, “With electrochemical conversion, CO2 is transformed from being the biggest problem of our time to a valuable resource. The ground-breaking science being done at GETCO2 will point to a smart and clean path to net zero emissions by 2050, with Australia leading the way.”

Senator Chisholm emphasized GETCO2’s role in fast-tracking the path to net zero while supporting Australia’s green manufacturing revolution.

“It is centres like GETCO2 that will provide the knowledge, creation of new products, and commercial opportunities necessary for Australia’s future. As the world embarks on the biggest change to how we source, manage, and consume energy since the industrial revolution, GETCO2 will help facilitate a green manufacturing and export revolution while assisting with Australia’s national and international net zero obligations. And with an increase in extreme weather events such as droughts, bushfires, and floods, achieving net zero by 2050 is critical to limiting the dangerous impacts of climate change,” the Senator said.

After the Senator declared GETCO2 officially launched, the Centre invited guests on a tour of the new laboratories in the award-winning Andrew N. Liveris Building, home to UQ’s School of Chemical Engineering.

Professor Sir Anthony K. Cheetham has made enormous contributions to materials chemistry, ranging from the discovery of novel materials to the investigation of their mechanical, electronic, and magnetic properties to pioneering a rich set of structural characterization methods. His 75th birthday this year marks half a century of transformative materials science.

With his commitment to advancing the frontiers of science, Professor Cheetham has led the field of materials chemistry for decades, leaving a lasting mark on both academia and industry. Likewise, Professor Cheetham’s influence extends globally through his extensive network of collaborations, leadership, mentorship, and advisory roles. As a distinguished professor at leading institutions, such as the University of Cambridge; the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB), and, most recently, the National University of Singapore (NUS), he has nurtured generations of researchers and fostered a culture of collaboration, innovation, and scientific inquiry. His mentorship has inspired a legion of scientists who continue to push the boundaries of science in their own right.

To honour his work, Prof Bettina V. Lotsch, A/Prof Jingwei Hou, Prof Efrain E. Roriguez and Prof Wei Li have organised a Special Issue in APL Materials.  In the issue they celebrate Professor Cheetham’s defining role in materials chemistry across the globe for more than 50 years. The collection embraces materials chemistry in its entire breadth and depth—in terms of materials classes, characterization techniques, and the close entanglement of experiment and theory.

Read the article, published 17 May 2024, here.

About Professor Sir Anthony Cheetham

Professor Sir Anthony Cheetham is a Research Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the National University of Singapore and a member of GETCO2’s Strategic Advisory Committee.  He was formerly the Goldsmiths’ Professor of Materials Science at the University of Cambridge (2007-2017) and the Treasurer and Vice-President of the Royal Society (2012-2017).  He obtained his D.Phil. at Oxford in 1972 and did post-doctoral work in the Materials Physics Division at Harwell. He joined the Chemistry faculty at Oxford in 1974, and then moved to UC Santa Barbara in 1991 to become Professor in the Materials Department. From 1992-2004 Professor Cheetham was the Director of UCSB’s Materials Research Laboratory. In January 2020 he was knighted by the Queen for “Services to Materials Chemistry, UK Science and Global Outreach”, and in 2022 he received the Sheikh Saud International Prize for Materials Science.

GETCO2 researchers have built a nanogenerator that absorbs carbon dioxide (CO2) to make electricity.

Dr Zhuyuan Wang from GETCO2 says the small, proof-of-concept nanogenerator is carbon negative because it consumes the greenhouse gas.

“This nanogenerator is made of two components: a polyamine gel that is already used by industry to absorb CO2 and a skeleton a few atoms thick of boron nitrate that generates positive and negative ions. We’ve worked out how to make the positive ions much larger than the negative ions and because the different sizes move at different speeds, they generate a diffusion current which can be amplified into electricity to power light bulbs or any electronic device”, Dr Wang said.

“In nature and in the human body, ion transportation is the most efficient energy conversion – more efficient than electron transportation which is used in the power network.”

The two components were embedded in a hydrogel which is 90 per cent water, cut into 4-centimetre discs and small rectangles and then tested in a sealed box pumped full of CO2.

“When we saw electrical signals coming out, I was very excited but worried I’d made a mistake. I double-checked everything, and it was working correctly so I started dreaming about changing the world using this technology. This technology goes further than being carbon neutral – it consumes CO2 as it generates energy,” Dr Wang said.

“At present we can harvest around 1 percent of the total energy carried intrinsically by gas CO2 but like other technologies, we will now work on improving efficiency and reducing cost.”

See Dr Zhuyuan Wang explain how the nanogenerator works in this video.

Director of the Dow Centre, Professor Xiwang Zhang, said following the success of the laboratory tests, there are two potential applications for the nanogenerator in the future.

“We could make a slightly bigger device that is portable to generate electricity to power a mobile phone or a laptop computer using CO2 from the atmosphere,” Professor Zhang said.

“A second application on a much larger scale, would integrate this technology with an industrial CO2 capture process to harvest electricity.”

The development of the nanogenerator will continue through GETCO2, the ARC Centre of Excellence for Green Electrochemical Transformation of Carbon Dioxide which is led by UQ with Professor Zhang as Director.

“We want to realise the value in a problematic greenhouse gas and to change the perception of CO2. Until now CO2 has been seen as a problem to be solved but it can be a resource for the future,” Professor Zhang said.

The research has been published in Nature Communications.

Authors: Zhuyuan Wang, Ting Hu, Mike Tebyetekerwa, Xiangkang Zeng, Fan Du, Yuan Kang, Xuefeng Li, Hao Zhang, Huanting Wang & Xiwang Zhang

This article is based on a UQ Communications media release published on 18 April 2024.

Our International Women’s Day 2024 Series celebrates GETCO2’s trailblazer women in Science. Meet these talented and hard-working women and be inspired by their advice for others hoping to excel in their careers.

Karen Wilson

Professor Karen Wilson is a Chief Investigator and Theme Leader at GETCO₂, and is Professor of Catalysis and Director of the Centre for Catalysis and Clean Energy at Griffith University. She has previously held a prestigious Royal Society Industry Fellowship in collaboration with Johnson Matthey and is Associate Editor of Sustainable Energy & Fuels (Royal Society of Chemistry), and Energy & Environmental Materials (Wiley) and Editorial Board member for Energy & Environmental Science (Royal Society of Chemistry). Karen co-directs the Surfaces, Materials & Catalysis Group, where her research focuses on the rational design of heterogeneous catalysts for sustainable chemistry and utilisation of renewable feedstocks in the production of fuels and chemicals.

What are you most proud of in your career?

As the first member of my family to go to university, obtaining my BA and PhD from Cambridge University was a proud moment in my career. However, a particular highlight was being awarded a Royal Society Industry Fellowship in 2011 which was in collaboration with Johnson Matthey, and allowed me to establish important links with industry and understand the real-world challenges of my research.

What do you love most about your research? 

I enjoy doing work that matters to society and has impact. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing your research contribute to development of an industrial process, being able to explain the significance of your work to the public. However, one of the most satisfying aspects of my role comes from being able to assist one of your students or mentees transition to having a successful career.

What is your advice for other women to excel in their careers?

Be patient and stay positive, establish a good network of mentors and don’t be afraid to ask for help. There may be some bumps in the road, but you will get through to the other side if you have the right people by your side. We all need a cheerleader, and finding one at an early stage of your career who will support you and think of you when opportunities arise will be a huge boost to your career.

The campaign theme for International Women’s Day 2024 is ‘Count Her In: Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress’. How do we invest in Women in research and science?

We need to recognise that everyone is different, and their careers will develop at different rates. There needs to be more women visible in positions of leadership, and an emphasis on trying to discourage nepotism in the scientific community to increase diversity in research teams. A move away from relying on journal-based metrics as a benchmark for excellence by funding agencies as recommended by the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) would be another step in the right direction.

Back to GETCO2’s IWD profiles.

Our International Women’s Day 2024 Series celebrates GETCO2’s trailblazer women in Science. Meet these talented and hard-working women and be inspired by their advice for others hoping to excel in their careers.

Rachel Caruso

Professor Rachel Caruso is the Deputy Director at GETCO2 and a RMIT Distinguished Professor in the School of Science, working in the discipline of Applied Chemistry and Environmental Science at RMIT University. She leads a research group that investigates approaches to control the morphology and composition of inorganic materials with potential application in areas such as photocatalysis, photovoltaics and batteries.

What are you most proud of in your career?

I am really proud of seeing recent PhD students in the group graduate after severe COVID lockdowns in Melbourne that prevented laboratory access for well over a year of their PhD journey. Having mentored them through this difficult and frustrating time, when we could only meet online and did not know when experiments could get started, it has been amazing to see their persistence and dedication as they have completed the research required for their theses. These students have developed strengths in resilience and patience, as well as excellent time management skills having been able to progress their projects and answer their research questions in the limited laboratory time available to them.

What do you love most about your research? 

There are a number of things I love about my research, from working through scientific challenges and trying to find solutions to meeting and working with a variety of people. I have really enjoyed conducting research in collaboration with other research groups. This has allowed me to work alongside remarkable colleagues, as we pool our research strengths and tackle the problem at hand. It has exposed me to new research areas and different research questions, and I have also learnt from observing other people’s approaches to conducting research.

What is your advice for other women to excel in their careers?

Follow your passion and work on things that fascinate you. Careers go through times of highs and lows, so it is important to celebrate successes and to find good mentors or develop approaches that help you through when things are tough.

The campaign theme for International Women’s Day 2024 is ‘Count Her In: Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress’. How do we invest in Women in research and science?

To invest in women in research and science we need women involved in setting research agendas and leading research projects. As a Centre we will be investing in women at all stages of their research careers: inspiring students in primary and secondary schools, training young scientist and engineers in their tertiary studies, building leadership skillsets in our early career researchers, giving opportunities to our mid-career academics, and supporting those in leadership roles. This investment will accelerate progress and drive scientific discovery.

Back to GETCO2’s IWD profiles.