Dr. Elena Baranova, Ph.D., LEL

Biography

Education:

• Ph.D. in Electrochemical Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland
• Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, Ukrainian State University of Chemical Engineering, Dnipro, Ukraine
• M.Sc. in Chemical Technology and Engineering, Ukrainian State University of Chemical Engineering, Dnipro, Ukraine

Elena Baranova is a Full Professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at the Gina Cody School of Engineering, Concordia University. Before joining Concordia, she was a Full Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (2017-2024) and the co-Director of the Nexus for Quantum Technologies (NexQT) Institute at the University of Ottawa, Canada (2022-2024).

She previously held an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship (2005–2007) and worked as a Research Associate at the National Research Council (NRC), Canada, before joining the University of Ottawa as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in 2008. She was promoted to Associate Professor in 2013 and Full Professor in 2017.

Her research focuses on Electrochemical Engineering, Catalysis, and Energy Conversion and Storage. She is internationally recognized for her expertise in electrocatalysis for water electrolysis, fuel cells, CO₂ conversion, and lithium-ion batteries. Her pioneering work on nanostructured electrochemical promotion of catalysis has significantly contributed to environmental catalysis and CO₂ transformation into valuable chemicals.

She has authored over 145 publications in high-impact journals (Chemical Reviews, ACS Catalysis, Journal of Catalysis, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Applied Catalysis B), contributed to four book chapters, and holds one U.S. patent. She has also held invited professor positions in Germany, France, Spain, China, and Argentina.

Prof. Baranova serves as an Executive Editor of the Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology (JCTB, SCI, Wiley) and is a member of several editorial boards, including the Journal of Solid-State Electrochemistry (Springer Nature), Electrochemistry, and Issues of Chemistry and Chemical Technology.

Dr. Baranova's laboratory works on various aspects of electrochemical engineering, electrochemistry, electrochemical energy conversion and storage, electrocatalysis, and the electrochemical promotion of heterogeneous catalysis.

Our current projects focus on:

i) Electrochemical engineering for energy storage in chemical bonds, applied to anion exchange membrane water electrolysis, CO₂ electroreduction, and the co-generation of hydrogen with biomass valorization.

ii) Electrochemical promotion of catalysis (EPOC) for CO₂ hydrogenation and ammonia synthesis using ion-coducting solid electrolytes

iii) Lithium-ion batteries, developed in collaboration with the National Research Council (NRC) and Dr. Y. Abu-Lebdeh’s group, where we focus on designing various materials for Li-ion batteries.

Our laboratory’s main expertise lies in the rational design and characterization of efficient, selective and stable catalysts, solid electrolytes and the investigation of electrified interfaces using in-situ Polarization Modulation Infrared Reflection Absorption Spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS) and Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) techniques.

Google Scholar Profile
https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=WDNZpGcAAAAJ&hl=en