Materials alumnus returns to Imperial as lecturer

Dr Ifan Stephens, Department of Materials, Imperial College London

Dr Ifan Stephens who graduated in Materials in 2001, returns to the Department as a Senior Lecturer. Find out more about his journey

Welcome back to the Department of Materials! Where have you been?

I graduated from the MEng(Hons) programme in 2001. My first job was at Buro Happold Consulting Engineers, in the Facades Department; basically, it was a move from the microscopic phenomena that we study in materials science to the macroscopic phenomena that are of importance to the construction industry. It was certainly an eye opener to work in an industrial environment. However, I somehow felt more attracted by the allure of academia. Consequently, in 2003 I went on to do a PhD at the University of Cambridge. Professor Derek Fray was my supervisor. The topic was on catalysts for redox flow batteries for large scale energy storage. This aroused my interest in catalysis and electrochemical energy conversion. It led me to conduct my postdoctoral research at the Department of Physics at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) in January 2008, under the supervision of Professor Ib Chorkendorff. I eventually became Associate Professor and Leader of the Electrocatalysis Group there. At DTU, I fostered strong collaborations with other scientists at institutions around the world, in particular the Technical University of Munich, Stanford, the University of Copenhagen and MIT.

What are your main research interests? Could you tell us about these and some of the applications – present and future?

My research aims to enable the large-scale electrochemical conversion of renewable energy to fuels and valuable chemicals and vice versa. Such processes will be critical in order to allow the increased uptake of renewable energy.  

My focus is on the catalyst at the electrode, i.e. the electrocatalyst. It turns out that the electrocatalyst material defines the efficiency of several important electrochemical processes, including:

(i) electrolysis for the storage of renewable electricity — which is inherently intermittent — in the form of fuels, such as hydrogen or alcohols.
(ii) fuel cells as a potentially zero emission source of power for automotive vehicles. 
(iii) the green synthesis of valuable chemicals. The prime example of such a process is the electrochemical production of hydrogen peroxide. I recently co-founded a company HPNow, to commercialise my research in this area.
(iv) batteries, which tend to degrade by gas evolution at the electrode-electrolyte interface. Hence the reactions that need to be accelerated in electrolysers and fuel cells — such as CO₂, CO, O₂ and H₂ evolution — are precisely those that need to be inhibited in batteries.

What motivated you to come back as a Senior Lecturer, and what do you look forward to the most in your time in the Department of Materials and at Imperial?

I was extremely attracted by the diverse world leading research being performed at Imperial and the excellent quality of students. In fact, I didn’t realise when I came for my interview that I would be the only member of academic staff who was an undergraduate in the Department: I think this gives me a unique connection to the current cohort of students. One of the distinctive features of Imperial is its highly collaborative and open atmosphere. I find my peers here incredibly supportive and collegial. At the same time, Imperial also provides me with all the independence and intellectual freedom that I could possibly crave for. I am most excited at the prospect of integrating myself into the vibrant academic community of Imperial, London and beyond.

What is your typical day like at the moment?

It is hard to define a typical day. Each day brings its own exciting adventures:  I could be teaching undergraduates, meeting with new industrial and academic collaborators, writing papers, writing proposals, or presenting my research at conferences in Europe, America and in Asia.