Bio

Anne Co obtained her B.Sc. in Applied Chemistry in 1999 from the University of Calgary and Ph.D. in Chemistry with a specialization in Electrochemistry under Viola Birss in 2005 from the University of Calgary, Canada. She then joined National Research Council Canada in Ottawa as a NSERC Visiting Fellow and later as Research Associate (2005-2008). She was then awarded a Mary Fieser Fellowship Award and continued her postodoctoral studies with Professor Cynthia Friend at Harvard University (2008-2010). Professor Co’s research interest is in electrocatalysis for energy conversion and storage. She joined the Ohio State Chemistry Department in August of 2010. 

 

Research Overview

Advanced Electrocatalytic Materials for Chemical Conversion and Energy Storage.

The primary focus our research effort is fundamental studies of electrochemical reactions, electrocatalyst function and the design of new materials for improving the efficiency of electrical storage and conversion devices such as batteries and fuel cells.  Our lab is multidisciplinary, combining electrochemical, analytical, materials and physical chemistry techniques.

Current research interests in the Co group:

Nanoporous Materials for Electrocatalysis

Nanoporous metals can serve as an ideal framework as battery and fuel cell electrodes providing high surface areas while maintaining electrical conductivity through their ligaments. Another advantage is their tuneable porosity while providing mechanical rigidity and excellent mass transport properties. These properties make nanoporous metal foams excellent electrode materials in electrical storage and conversion applications.  Our group will investigate novel nanoporous electrodes as an alternative to conventional Li-ion battery anode to accommodate for the expansion during charge discharge/cycles, as well as nanoporous bimetallic foams and shells as catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction.

Understanding the electrochemical reduction pathways for the electroreduction of CO2

Electrochemistry has an enormous potential for reductive recycling of CO2. Several classes of organic chemicals (e.g. CO, CH4, C2H4, methanol, isopropanol, formate and urea) can be synthesized electrochemically from CO2 in aqueous or non-aqueous solutions in ambient conditions. Our research group will focus on understanding the electrochemical pathways for CO2 reduction and developing new, more selective and energy efficient catalysts for CO2 fixation into energy fuels.

Recent Publications

Danny Liu, Jinghui Wang, Pan Ke, Jie Qiu, Marcello Canova, Lei Cao* and Anne C. Co*, "In Situ Quantification and Visualization of Lithium Transport with Neutrons.", Angewandte Chimie International Edition, 53 (2014) 1-6.

Eric J. Coleman and Anne C. Co "Galvanic Displacement of Pt on Nanoporous Copper: An Alternative Synthetic Route for Obtaining Robust and Reliable Oxygen Reduction Activity." Journal of Catalysis, 316 (2014) 191-200.

Jinghui Wang, Danny Liu, Marcello Canova, Robert Gregory Downing, Lei Cao* and Anne C. Co* "Profiling Lithium Distributions in Sn Anodes of Lithium-ion Batteries with Neutrons." Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 301 (2014) 277-284.

Jie Qiu, Lei Cao, Padhraic Mulligan, Danyal Turkoglu, Shrikant C. Nagpure, Marcello Canova and Anne C. Co, "The Potential of Using Li-Ion Batteries for Radiation Detection", IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, 60, 2 (2013) 662-667.

Michael Gattrell, Neeraj Gupta and Anne C. Co, "A Review of the Aqueous Electrochemical Reduction of CO2 to Hydrocarbons at Copper", Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, 594 (2006) 1-19.

Michael Gattrell, Neeraj Gupta and Anne C. Co, "The Electrochemical Reduction of CO2 to Hydrocarbons as a Method to Store Renewable Electrical Energy and Upgrade Biogas", Energy Conservation and Management, 48 (2007) 1255-1265.

Anne C. Co and Viola I. Birss, "Mechanistic Analysis of the Oxygen Reduction Reaction at (La,Sr)MnO3 Cathodes in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells", Journal of Physical Chemistry B 110 (2006) 11299-11309.