Summary

Dr. Siraj Sultan received his PhD in Chemistry from the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), South Korea, in 2020. His doctoral research focused on the development of advanced electrocatalysts and electrolyzer systems for hydrogen (H₂) production through water splitting, contributing to the advancement of clean and sustainable energy technologies. During this period, he developed strong expertise in materials synthesis, electrochemical reaction engineering, and system integration under both acidic and alkaline conditions. Following his PhD, Dr. Siraj worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher (2020–2022) and subsequently served as a Research Assistant Professor (2022–2026) at UNIST. During this period, he significantly expanded his research portfolio beyond water splitting into: (1) Electrochemical CO₂ reduction (eCO₂R) toward C₂+ products (2) Electrochemical nitrogen reduction chemistry, including nitrate reduction (NO₃R) to ammonia and C–N coupling reactions for sustainable urea synthesis (3) Reaction pathway engineering to enhance selectivity and suppress competing hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) (4) Integration of catalyst design with membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) electrolyzer systems His work emphasizes atomic-level catalyst engineering, carbon and nitrogen utilization efficiency, and scalable reactor design for sustainable fuel and chemical production. Research Areas: Dr. Siraj research focuses on: Water splitting for green hydrogen production Electrochemical CO₂ reduction (eCO₂R) Electrochemical nitrogen reduction chemistry: Nitrate reduction reaction (NO₃RR) to ammonia; Nitrogen reduction reaction (N₂RR) Electrochemical C–N coupling and sustainable urea synthesis Electrochemical oxidation of organic molecules for value-added chemicals and paired electrolysis AEM and PEM electrolyzer systems for integrated electrochemical conversion Membrane–electrode assembly (MEA) design and optimization Single-atom and heteroatom-coordinated catalyst platforms Carbon-, nitrogen-, and energy-efficient electrochemical systems His work emphasizes reaction pathway control, catalyst–electrolyte interface engineering, and device-level optimization under industrially relevant current densities Research Contributions & Impact Dr. Sultan has published over 30 peer-reviewed articles in high-impact journals Nature Energy; Nature Sustainability; Nature Communications; Energy & Environmental Science (2 papers); Advanced Energy Materials (4 papers); Advanced Functional Materials; Applied Catalysis B: Environment and Energy; ACS Catalysis; ACS Nano; Nano Energy (2 papers), Chemical Engineering Journal, Journal of Energy Chemistry (2 papers), small (2 papers); Journal of Materials Chemistry A (3 papers), Electrochimica Acta, and others. Citation Metrics (Google Scholar) 5,500 citations; Cumulative Journal Impact Factor: ~500 Major Research Funding & Recognition Dr. Sultan was awarded a prestigious National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea grant as Sole Principal Investigator (June 2021 – May 2024). The project focused on atomic-level electrocatalyst engineering for CO₂ conversion and nitrogen-containing product formation, leading to: Two publications in Energy & Environmental Science (2022, 2023). One publication in Journal of Materials Chemistry A His 2022 Energy & Environmental Science article received the Gold Award in the Samsung Human-Tech Paper Award, recognizing its scientific excellence and innovation. Current Vision at NUST As an Associate Professor at NUST, Dr. Siraj is establishing a research program focused on: (1) Advanced electrocatalyst design for carbon and nitrogen conversion (2) Integration of catalysts into AEM and PEM electrolyzer platforms (3) Paired electrolysis systems combining value-added oxidation and reduction reactions (4) Carbon- and energy-efficient electrochemical fuel and chemical production (5) Industrially relevant MEA-based reactor development His long-term goal is to develop next-generation electrochemical technologies that enable efficient carbon recycling, sustainable ammonia production, and green hydrogen generation.

Academic Background

Honours and Awards