Chuyen Pham

Dr. Chuyen Pham is a senior electrocatalysis and nanomaterials chemist serving as Team Leader of "Catalyst Synthesis" at the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (HI ERN), an institute of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB), located in Nuremberg, Germany.

His research concentrates on the design and scalable synthesis of advanced electrocatalysts and functional nanomaterials. Core areas include:

• Highly active and stable platinum-, iridium-, ruthenium-based catalysts for solid-electrolyte membrane fuel cells and CO₂/water electrolysers.
• Core–shell architectures (e.g., TiO₂@IrOₓ, IrOₓ@TiO₂) engineered to reduce noble-metal loading while enhancing activity and durability.
• Carbon-supported non-noble systems (NiRu/C, MoSₓ) for cost-effective hydrogen evolution in anion-exchange membrane electrolysers.
• Functional nanomaterials enabling next-generation Li–S batteries and other advanced energy-storage technologies.

Across more than 25 peer-reviewed publications since 2017, his work demonstrates a consistent trajectory toward lowering critical-material content, improving catalytic efficiency, and bridging fundamental surface-science insights to real device performance. Recent articles emphasize scalable wet-chemical and photodeposition routes, ink–electrode correlations, and full-cell validation under industrially relevant conditions.

Laboratory & Team:

Dr. Pham leads the “Catalyst Synthesis” group within the Electrocatalysis division at HI ERN, housed in Building HIERN-Auf-AEG, Room 0224. The team focuses on rational catalyst design, in-house synthesis, and collaborative testing within the institute’s broader research portfolio on renewable energy conversion and storage.