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Antanas Nacys, a chemist at the FTMC Department of Catalysis, has been awarded a PhD in natural sciences. He defended his thesis on "New Materials for Low Temperature Fuel Cells" (scientific supervisor: Dr. Loreta Tamašauskaitė-Tamašiūnaitė).

Congratulations to our colleague, good luck in your future scientific journey!

Fuel cells are promising, environmentally friendly devices that convert the energy from chemical reactions directly into electricity and are currently under intensive development in laboratories around the world. They work in a similar way to batteries, but differ in that they receive a continuous supply of fuel (usually hydrogen) and an oxidising agent (usually oxygen) - so they can run continuously as long as these materials are available.

"The title of my thesis already implies that my work is about the development of new materials and their potential applications in fuel cells. These new materials are catalysts - one of the main components of a fuel cell," says Antanas.

According to the chemist, this work is relevant to all of us because it is closely linked to sustainable energy:

"Climate change and other issues related to fossil fuel use are a hot topic in the world right now. This is why there is an active attempt to switch to alternative energy sources (wind turbines, solar panels, etc.).

Fuel cells are one of them. They are versatile and have a wide range of applications, from simple power generators in households and cars to submarines, medicine (artificial organs) and spacecraft."

"It is gratifying to have achieved the aims and objectives of the thesis, namely to develop promising anode materials (catalysts) that have the required properties and can be used in fuel cells. I am also pleased that the results of this work have been presented at prestigious electrochemical conferences and published in high-level international scientific journals," notes A. Nacys.

FTMC information