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ChE Senior Claire Walko Wins Outstanding Presentation Award

December 17, 2024 Student Life

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Claire Walko
Claire Walko

Claire Walko, a senior in the UMass Amherst Chemical Engineering (ChE) Department, recently won the Outstanding Presentation Award at the 2024 Gulf Coast Undergraduate Research Symposium. Walko garnered the prestigious award for a presentation describing her groundbreaking research to resolve the environmental issues surrounding the production of ammonia, which she describes as “one of the world’s most socially valuable chemicals.”

Ammonia serves as the primary component in fertilizer and a promising fuel and energy source for the future. But, as Walko sums up the problems with its production, “Currently, ammonia is made on an industrial scale via the energy- and carbon-intensive Haber-Bosch process, which accounts for about 2 percent of the world’s yearly energy supply and 1.8 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions.” 

Walko aims to help reduce the wasteful energy output and greenhouse-gas emissions of ammonia production with her research in the lab (Wu Research Group) of her mentor, ChE Professor Nianqiang Wu, who is also the Armstrong/Siadat Endowed Professor of Materials Science & Engineering. 

In that laboratory setting, Walko’s pioneering research promises to provide a carbon-free replacement for current ammonia-production processes by boosting the energy efficiency and additional functionality of this greener alternative. Her environmentally sound approach uses a combination of “photocatalysis” (meaning the ability to foster specific chemical reactions when stimulated by suitable wavelengths of light) and “metal doping” (which involves introducing new elements into the catalyst to improve chemical properties and performance). 

“Photocatalysts have presented a promising new approach to sustainable ammonia synthesis using only light, water, and ambient air to reduce nitrogen gas into ammonia,” explains Walko about the environmental advantages of photocatalysis. “This research aims to investigate the effects of metal doping on the selectivity and activity of antimony-molybdate photocatalysts.” 

Walko observes that her investigations into photocatalysis and metal doping focus on understanding and toppling the main barriers to employing the greener process of photocatalytic ammonia synthesis: low quantum efficiency and the poor selectivity and activity of the photocatalysts.

“Despite the significant barriers in the field, photocatalysis provides a carbon-free alternative to energy-intensive chemical processes,” says Walko. “Understanding which strategies help overcome the efficiency, activity, and selectivity drawbacks in current photocatalytic research will help work towards a more sustainable future.”

Walko concludes that “This research helps to provide further insight into metal-doping strategies for photocatalyst synthesis.”

As Walko summarizes her background, “I’m an honors senior at UMass Amherst pursuing a B.S. in chemical engineering with a concentration in biochemical engineering. My interests include carbon capture, biomaterials, polymer and energy science, and sustainability. In the future, I hope to work at the intersection of engineering and innovation to tackle real-world issues.”

The Wu Research Group has provided a fitting environment for Walko’s auspicious work on photocatalysis. According to Wu, “Our research aims to gain fundamental understanding of charge transfer and energy transfer in electrochemical and optoelectronic​ materials and devices. It gives us a unique advantage in developing high-performance materials and devices with the ‘material-by-design’ strategy.” (December 2024)

Article posted in Student Life

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