The transition to sustainable energy solutions has long been hindered by the challenge of developing efficient, cost-effective alternatives to hydrocarbons. Hydrogen, a leading candidate for green fuel, offers a promising pathway through water splitting. However, its widespread adoption remains constrained by sluggish electrocatalytic reactions, poor catalyst stability, and high material costs, limiting both hydrogen production and utilization in fuel cells.

In this talk, I will introduce an innovative materials discovery approach that harnesses non-equilibrium thermodynamics, allowing reaction kinetics to dictate the synthesis of novel catalysts. This method has led to the development of metastable materials, including high-entropy alloys and ceramics, that exhibit unprecedented catalytic activity and stability for key electrochemical processes—particularly green hydrogen production and CO₂ conversion into valuable fuels and feedstocks.

Our research has pioneered the design of novel non-PGM catalysts for hydrogen production, demonstrating one of the highest performances reported in the literature when tested in an actual industrial anion exchange membrane electrolyzer (AEMEC). These catalysts exhibit remarkable stability over 550 hours at industrially relevant current densities of 750 and 1000 mA cm⁻², overcoming key barriers to large-scale hydrogen generation.

Beyond addressing fundamental challenges in energy conversion, this research establishes a transformative high-throughput synthesis framework capable of generating and screening tens of thousands of unique material compositions in a fraction of the time required by conventional methods. Leveraging robotics for autonomous sample synthesis and testing further accelerates discovery, ensuring rapid optimization of material properties while minimizing energy consumption, costs, and manpower. This approach paves the way for breakthroughs in sustainable energy technologies.

Biographical Sketch

Dr. Ali Abdelhafiz is a Research Scientist in the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), working under the supervision of Prof. Ju Li. His research focuses on accelerating materials discovery through non-conventional high-throughput experimentation, with applications in green hydrogen production, CO₂ conversion into fuels and feedstocks, and the additive manufacturing of novel alloys and composites for radiation-resistant and nuclear applications. His work integrates autonomous robotic platforms to rapidly synthesize and test materials, significantly reducing the time and cost of discovery.

Dr. Abdelhafiz earned his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, where he worked with Prof. Meilin Liu and Prof. Faisal Alamgir. His research at Georgia Tech centered on surface and interface engineering of atomic-scale metal/graphene hybrid electrocatalysts for fuel cell applications, as well as defect engineering of one-dimensional semiconductor nanoarchitectures for photoelectrochemical water splitting, water treatment, and desalination.

Prior to his Ph.D., Dr. Abdelhafiz completed an M.Sc. in Nanotechnology at The American University in Cairo, where he developed polymer-layered silicate nanocomposite membranes for gas separation under the supervision of Prof. Amal Essawi and Prof. Adham Ramadan. He holds a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Ain Shams University in Egypt.

With a strong background in materials science, electrochemistry, and energy applications, Dr. Abdelhafiz continues to advance innovative approaches for designing and optimizing materials at unprecedented speeds, addressing critical challenges in energy and environmental sustainability.