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Researcher
Erdem Irtem
- Research Expertise:Dr. Erdem Irtem joined the Applied Electrochemistry & Catalysis (ELCAT) group in University of Antwerp as a postdoctoral researcher in 2019. He is an expert on materials and systems for electrochemical energy storage and conversion technologies, such as electrolyzers, photoelectrochemical cells, supercapacitors, flow batteries and pem-fuel cells. He completed his bachelor on Materials Science and Engineering between two universities in Turkey under framework of competitive Farabi program. Following, he acquired the competitive Erasmus Mundus Master Course Scholarship (32k €) to study in "M.E.S.C. - Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion" in the consortium of France-Poland-Spain-USA-China. In his master thesis, he worked on Li-ion batteries for electric vehicles in Renault Technocentre. He investigated capacity decay of NMC/NCA based batteries and developed a protocol for their storage conditions during shipment periods. Later on, he obtained the competitive Fl-Agaur Early-Stage Researcher Grant (45k€) and conducted his Ph.D. topic on "Production of solar fuels by photoelectrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide" in Catalonia Institute for Energy Research in Barcelona. He completed his Ph.D. thesis with "Sobresaliente Cum Laude" title and " Menció de Doctor Internacional" recognition owing to his research stays in INRS Montreal, Canada working on Quantum Dots and ETH Zurich, Switzerland working on Delafossite catalysts. During his Ph.D., E. Irtem built a photoelectrochemical device for artificial photosynthesis applicable to industry. His system continuously converts CO2 to valuable chemicals with a higher yield (>0.25%) than biological photosynthesis (<0.2%). His Ph.D. thesis received Premis Pioneer 2017 award of " Best Doctoral Research of the Year" by CERCA - Centres de Recerca de Catalunya (2017). His research line received interest from energy companies resulting in 1 European patent (EP20150830783) with Repsol, S.A. that brought him international recognition in the area of CO2 electroreduction. He published 3 articles as first author in international, peer-reviewed journals with IFs>10 and +75 citations/article by now. His expertise of material synthesis and electrochemistry would provide the opportunity to make a great scientific impact, to disseminate the results in international scientific community and to build strong collaborations worldwide. As educational assignment, Erdem participates in the master Chemical Engineering. He supervises master students with their masterproof and doctoral students on their thesis projects.
- Keywords:ELECTROPLATING, ELECTROCHEMISTRY, PHOTOELECTROCHEMISTRY, CO2 REDUCTION, ELECTROCHEMICAL REACTOR, CIRCULAR ECONOMY, ENGINEERING, FLOW REACTOR, Chemistry (incl. biochemistry)
- Disciplines:Electrochemistry, Catalysis, Flow chemistry, Inorganic green chemistry, Nanofabrication, growth and self assembly, Nanomaterials, Energy conversion, Energy storage, Solar energy, CAD/CAM systems, Materials synthesis, Materials science and engineering not elsewhere classified, Systems design
- Research techniques:• Electrochemical analysis: CV-LSV, RDE, RRDE, EIS, GITT, PITT, GCPL1-6, CPW Material synthesis: Hydrothermal and ceramic synthesis methods, electrodeposition of metals Microscopy techniques: FE-SEM – EDS Mapping and Elemental Analysis Diffraction analysis: XRF, XRD, FWHM fitting- Reitvield Refinement - DicVol analysis Chromatography: HPLC, GC-MS Mechanical: Battery assembly coin/pouch cell, assembly of micro-flow/process systems Techniques for handling air- and moisture-sensitive compounds Software: EC Lab, FullProf, Origin, CATIA V5, SAP, MS Office, LaTEX
- Users of research expertise:Young SMEs (Small and medium-sized enterprises) and startup companies from university or multinational organizations that seek mentoring of their administrative staff and training activities of their technical staff. The large enterprises and multinational companies that seek collaboration on projects and strategies on frontier and emerging technologies, to expand their portfolio in sustainability market or for energy efficiency methods via sustainable/environmentally friendly technologies. These sectors can be industrial synthesis of consumer products, specialty chemicals, petrochemicals, energy storage and conversion.