Machine learning in the research about CO₂ – Dr Haoxin Mai

This presentation is an introduction to machine learning concepts featuring an example of how machine learning is used in CO₂ adsorption research.

Dr Haoxin Mai received his PhD degree in Materials Chemistry from the Research School of Chemistry at the Australian National University in 2020. He has worked at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University (RMIT) as a research fellow from 2020. His research interests include perovskite photocatalysis and photoluminescence, CO₂ conversion to value-added products, ferroelectric thin films, controllable synthesis of inorganic colloid nanocrystals and machine learning.

• Email: haoxin.mai@rmit.edu.au
• Website: https://www.rmit.edu.au/profiles/m/haoxin-mai
• Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?hl=en&user=pvdbke0AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate

 Designing bifunctional electrocatalysts for green ammonia production – Dr Divyani Gupta

The gigantic upsurge in world’s population has intensified the demands for food, water, and energy. About 40–60% of global food production depends on commercial fertilizers, involving fossil fuels as major feedstock. Ammonia (NH₃) makes an indispensable contribution to agricultural sector through its application in fertilizers, production of nitric acid, nylon, pharmaceuticals, etc. and as a green energy carrier. Its production relies on the energy-intensive Haber-Bosch process, accounting for more than 2% of global CO₂ emissions (2.16 tonne CO₂/tonne NH₃ ) and consuming 2-3% of total energy & natural gas. Electrochemical NH₃ synthesis offers a sustainable alternative to the Haber–Bosch process. Its performance is utterly reliant on the activity and durability of nitrogen reduction (NRR) and oxygen evolution (OER) catalysts, which involve distinct mechanisms and thus require different materials. A bifunctional catalyst can simplify cell design, reduce costs, and maximize electrocatalyst utilization. Besides, the sluggish kinetics of the OER limits energy efficiency and increases cell voltage; substituting it with alternative anodic reactions can lower voltage and yield valuable by-products. As a step forward, integrating Zn–air batteries (renewable energy storage) with electrochemical NH₃ synthesis can drive self-powered, economical and sustainable ammonia production.

Dr Divyani Gupta is currently a postdoctoral fellow at The University of Adelaide, SA, Australia under the supervision of Prof. Zaiping Guo. She received her PhD degree from Indian Institute of Technology Ropar, India in 2023 for her work on electrocatalysis and its application in electrochemical ammonia synthesis and Zn-air batteries. She has been actively working on energy conversion and storage systems aligning with sustainable development goals with her current research focus on aqueous Zn-CO₂ batteries for green energy storage and CO₂ conversion to value-added products.

• Email: divyani.gupta@adelaide.edu.au
• ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Divyani-Gupta/research
• Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=DR2FRCMAAAAJ&hl=en
• LinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/in/divyani-gupta-8b9642128

Enquiries

For more information about the seminar and link to the online presentation, please contact the GETCO2 EMCR Committee chaired by Dr Basiram Brahma Narzary, getco2@uq.edu.au