Hydroxide Ion-Conducting Polymers
The Holdcroft research group synthesizes and studies hydroxide ion-conducting polymers for alkaline water electrolysis, fuel cells, and CO2 electrolysis (Chem. Soc. Rev., 2024). We invented a new sub-class of polymers, C2-sterically-protected polybenzimidazoliums and polyimidazoliums, which are exceptionally stable under highly caustic conditions at elevated temperatures: Angewandte Chemie (2016), Nature Comm. (2019) and Macromolecules (2023). This work has expanded into organic “Proton Cages”, which afford unprecedented hydroxide ion stability under low RH conditions. Nature Comm. (2024).
Lindsay is a proud graduate of Dalhousie University, holding a B. Eng in Chemical Engineering and having completed the enriching co-operative education program. Her journey so far has led her to Rayleigh Solar Tech, a dynamic Halifax-based startup, where she immersed herself in a 16-month endeavor to enhance carbon electrode materials for perovskite solar cells.
Ashley completed her BSc in Chemistry at The King’s University in Edmonton, Alberta. During her degree, she participated in a variety of research, including in vanadium-naphthenic acid coordination in the Athabasca oil sands, computational methods for ab-initio molecular dynamics, and the development of online chemistry education resources.
Apurva earned both her MSc and PhD in Energy Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. For her Master’s degree, she focused on metal hydride ceramics as hydrogen storage materials, specifically investigating the kinetics of hydrogen sorption.
Ravinder received his PhD from National Chiao Tung University (NCTU), Taiwan. He also worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at National Taiwan University (Taiwan) and University of Waterloo (CANADA). During these eras, his research activities focused on the use of cutting-edge synthetic methodologies and technical skills for the design, efficient synthesis, and characterizations of organic chemical entities (small, supramolecular, and polymers w/and w/o post-polymerizations) for multifaceted applications such as Opto-Electronics, Sensory (Chemo-/Bio-Sensors/OTFTs), Photo-Controllable/Stimuli-Responsive, AIE-based materials (Type-I ROS PSs for Photodynamic therapy and Energy-Transfer), and Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs).
Ana Laura obtained her B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of São Paulo, Brazil. She did part of her undergraduate studies at the Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble, France, where she had her first contact with electrochemistry. She has a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of São Paulo with one year done at the University of Surrey, UK. She also did a 2 years post-doc at the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute (IPEN), Brazil, in collaboration with Shell.
Binyu graduated with a B. Eng. in Chemical Engineering from East China University of Science and Technology and a M. Sc in Chemistry from Memorial University of Newfoundland.