Assistant Professor Awarded Grant by American Chemical Society

Wanlu Li, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, has been awarded an American Chemical Society (ACS) Petroleum Research Fund Undergraduate Research Grant.

113 fundamental research projects with more than $12.3M in total were supported after two application rounds, one in the spring and one in the fall. Applications go through a thorough review process, and the ACS Board of Directors approves each applicant. The three-year Undergraduate Research Grant program is designed as a source of funds for faculty members in non-doctoral departments to support fundamental research and advanced scientific education in the petroleum field performed by undergraduate students. 

Li won the grant for her proposal, “CO 2 electrochemical reduction using micro-mesoporous carbon-based atomically dispersed nickel catalysts”, which seeks ways to optimize porosity in atomically dispersed catalysts for CO 2 electrochemical reduction, thereby guiding the synthesis of high-activity electrocatalysts. Her group is excited to explore ways of increasing the nickel loading on porous carbon support and study how the porous structure of the catalysts impacts the selectivity and activity of CO 2 electrochemical reduction.