Ryan Napier

PhD candidate
University of Leiden

Department

Catalysis and Surface Chemistry (CASC), Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC)

Contact information

Room
DE 0.13

Email address
r.a.napier@lic.leidenuniv.nl

Key expertises

Electrochemistry, Electrocatalysis, Heterogenized Molecular Catalysts, CO2 electroreduction, Polymer-Exchange Membranes

About me

I grew up in the UK and completed a Chemistry undergraduate degree at the University of Bath. I did my Master’s project on computational modelling of Sodium-Ion batteries, and undertook two research internships at Shell, one during my degree in the UK and the other after my Master’s in Amsterdam. I started a PhD in electrochemistry at Leiden University in June 2021. Outside of work, I have always done lots of sport, and currently I play and coach basketball.

About my research

My PhD research is focused on gaining a fundamental understanding the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) to alcohols. I will investigate different catalysts and intermediates to study the formation pathways for methanol and longer-chain alcohols and how they can be favored over hydrocarbons. My two internships at Shell gave me an insight into the energy transition and the importance of developing technologies that utilize renewable electricity. Fundamental research is at the heart of this challenge, providing the platform to develop these technologies. I hope my research can contribute to this knowledge, enabling industry to produce fuels and chemicals using renewable energy and clean chemistry.

Academic career

Early Stage Researcher 2019-2020: Master’s in Chemistry at Bath University, UK. Thesis on computational modelling of Phosphate Cathode Materials for Sodium-Ion batteries in the Centre for Sustainable and Circular Technologies. Under the supervision of Prof. Saiful Islam. PhD Candidate 2021-Present: PhD Candidate in the group of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry at Leiden University, the Netherlands. Under the supervision of Prof. Marc T.M. Koper.