Colin O’Brien

Jul 3, 2024 | nature.com | Panagiotis Papangelakis |Rui Miao |Shijie Liu |Ning Sun |Colin O’Brien |Mohsen Shakouri | +10 more

AbstractThe high concentrations of CO2 in industrial flue gases make these point sources attractive candidates for renewably powered electrocatalytic conversion of CO2 to products. However, trace SO2 in common flue gases rapidly and irreversibly poisons catalysts. Here we report that limiting hydrogen adsorption in the vicinity of electrochemically active sites deactivates SO2 to enable efficient CO2 conversion.

Aug 21, 2023 | nature.com | Mengyang Fan |Rui Miao |Pengfei Ou |Jinqiang Zhang |Weiyan Ni |Ying Wang | +7 more

AbstractAcidic electrochemical CO2 reduction (CO2R) addresses CO2 loss and thus mitigates the energy penalties associated with CO2 recovery; however, acidic CO2R suffers low selectivity. One promising remedy—using a high concentration of alkali cations—steers CO2R towards multi-carbon (C2+) products, but these same alkali cations result in salt formation, limiting operating stability to <15 h.

Jun 7, 2023 | nature.com | Mengyang Fan |Rui Miao |Yi Xu |Sung-Fu Hung |Jun Li |Yong Zhao | +8 more

Preparation of electrodesThe electrodes were prepared by air-bushing the CuPc/CNP or EDTA/CuPc/CNP inks onto hydrophobic carbon papers. The spray density was kept at 0.1 mL cm-2. The CuPc/CNP catalyst inks were prepared by dispersing 64 mg CuPc ( > 99.5%, Sigma-Aldrich) and 42 mg CNP (Vulcan XC 72, Fuel Cell Store) mixture in 30 mL methanol (>99.5%, Fisher chemical) with 150 µL 5 wt% PiperIon (Fuel Cell Store) anion exchange ionomer as the binder.

Mar 10, 2023 | theguardian.com | Colin O’Brien

Ballycotton is the kind of place that people like to call a hidden gem. But it’s hard to stay hidden when you’re a picture-perfect fishing village a short drive from the city of Cork, surrounded by sandy beaches and home to several fine pubs. In the summer it’s popular with walkers, anglers and foodies, but on a windy winter’s day we find a parking spot right outside Cush, an old pub turned restaurant that is regularly listed among the best places to eat in Ireland.

Feb 9, 2023 | nature.com | Yong Zhao |Long Hao |Rui Miao |Pengfei Ou |Tartela Alkayyali |Yi Xu | +4 more

Author notesThese authors contributed equally: Yong Zhao, Long Hao, Adnan Ozden, Shijie Liu. Authors and AffiliationsDepartment of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaYong Zhao, Adnan Ozden, Shijie Liu, Rui Kai Miao, Tartela Alkayyali, Yi Xu, Mengyang Fan, Jinqiang Zhang, Colin P.