According to scientists, the transition to alternative energy, in particular, the replacement of an internal combustion engine with a hydrogen fuel cell in cars will significantly reduce environmental pollution due to the absence of exhaust gases.

The research activity of Anastasia Alekseenko is precisely aimed at solving these problems and is associated with the creation of nanostructured platinum-containing catalysts of a new generation, which are the heart of each hydrogen-air fuel cell and convert the chemical energy of the fuel into electrical energy. It is important that such materials combine high functional characteristics and a minimum content of expensive platinum.

The results of the young scientist's work are presented in over 35 scientific articles in indexed journals of the first and second quartiles, and are marked by a number of prizes and scholarships. So, in 2022, Anastasia was awarded the Prize of the Government of the Rostov Region to 100 young scientists of the SFedU, and in 2021, the work was supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation and a Presidential Scholarship.

In addition, Anastasia Alekseenko successfully manages the laboratory "Nanostructured materials for electrochemical energy" of the Faculty of Chemistry of the Southern Federal University. Under her leadership, young scientists are working on new discoveries and solutions in the field of hydrogen energy, developing modern methods for producing highly efficient catalysts, and analyzing the composition, morphology, and functional characteristics of the obtained materials. The ongoing research is carried out at the international level and contributes to the development of modern electrochemistry, materials science and hydrogen energy.

Thus, in the latest work, a team of young scientists of the laboratory considered the features of changes in the structure of catalysts with different architecture of nanoparticles under the influence of different types of pretreatment. By the way, platinum-based catalysts doped with various d-metals, such as copper, cobalt, nickel, etc., are now widely used. However, during the operation of the fuel cell, d-metals are dissolved, which in turn reduces the current characteristics of the fuel element and, as a result, the duration of its operation.

 The scientists came to the conclusion that the chemical or electrochemical activation of bimetallic catalysts has a significant effect on their composition, microstructure and catalytic activity in the oxygen reduction reaction.