Wilson Smith

Research Bio

Dr. Wilson Smith's research is focused on materials and systems for electrochemical conversion technologies including water splitting, CO₂ reduction, and N₂ reduction to ammonia. Particularly, his research is centered around in-situ/operando characterization techniques (spectro-electrochemistry and atomic force microscopy), reactor engineering, process intensification, and process/system integration.

Education

• PhD in Physics, University of Georgia, 2010
• B.S. in Physics, American University, 2005

Awards

• ERC Starting Grant (2017)
• VIDI (2016)
• VENI (2013)

Selected Publications

• W.A. Smith*, T. Burdyny, D.A. Vermaas, J.C.C. Geerlings, Pathways to industrial-scale fuel out of thin air from CO₂ electrolysis, Joule, 3, 1822~1834 (2019). DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2019.07.009
• T. Burdyny and W.A. Smith*, CO₂ reduction on gas-diffusion electrodes and why catalytic performance must be assessed at commercially relevant conditions, Energy and Environmental Science, 12, 1442~1453 (2019). DOI: doi.org/10.1039/C8EE03134G
• D. Bohra, I. Ledezma-Yanez, G. Li, W. de Jong, E.A. Pidko, W.A. Smith*, Lateral adsorbate interactions inhibit HCOO^- while promoting CO selectivity for CO₂ electrocatalysis on Ag, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 58, 1345~1349 (2019) [URL]
• M. Ma, K. Djanashvili, W.A. Smith*, Controllable hydrocarbon formation via electrochemical reduction of CO₂, Angewandte Chemie Int. Ed., 55, 6680~6684 (2016). DOI: doi.org/10.1002/anie.201601282
• B.J. Trzesniewski, O. Diaz-Morales, D.A. Vermaas, A. Longo, W. Bras, M.T.M. Koper, W.A. Smith*, In-situ observation of active oxygen species in Fe-containing Ni-based oxygen evolution catalysts: the effect of pH on electrochemical activity, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 137, 15112~15121 (2015). DOI: doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5b06814