Close
Background
Keenan was born and raised in East Sussex. Venturing up to The University of Nottingham to obtain a first class Chemistry masters, he was introduced to the field of materials discovery, synthesizing new proton conducting materials for fuel cells. He then made the move back down to London in 2018 to start his PhD in the EIL.
Research Summary
The membrane electrode assembly is the ‘heart’ of a fuel cell, made up of a proton exchange membrane (PEM) sandwiched between two catalyst layers, allowing hydrogen and oxygen fuels to react forming water and in the process releasing energy that can be harnessed, by a vehicle for example.
Keenan’s research intends to gain greater nanoscale understanding of these two materials.
Through in-situ electrochemical AFM (ECAFM), the pathways of protons, water and fuels through proton exchange membranes can be studied, and degradation mechanisms of electrocatalysts in the harsh operating conditions of a fuel cell can be investigated. With the help of a variety of other characterisation techniques, such as neutron scattering, electron microscopy and conductivity measurements the physical and electrochemical properties can be correlated. The end goal being design of new improved materials based on the structure property relationships revealed.
Alongside these experiments new analysis procedures will be developed, which can be applied to other materials, with a view to study solid state electrolytes and metal-air electrodes in batteries.
List of conferences attended
- London Energy Materials and Devices Hub; 2019, University College London, UK, poster presentation
- Materials for Clean Energy Conference; 2019, National Physics Laboratory, UK, poster presentation
- STFC Early Career Researchers Conference; 2019, Abingdon, UK, poster presentation
- H2FC SUPERGEN Conference: A vision for hydrogen and fuel cells in the UK, 2019, University of Warwick
- London Energy Materials and Devices Hub; 2019, University College London, UK, poster presentation
- Materials for Clean Energy Conference; 2019, National Physics Laboratory, UK, poster presentation
- STFC Early Career Researchers Conference; 2019, Abingdon, UK, poster presentation
- H2FC SUPERGEN Conference: A vision for hydrogen and fuel cells in the UK, 2019, University of Warwick