NER: Water Electrolysis using Nanostructured Electrodes- An Efficient Approach to Hydrogen Production

摘要提案标题：NER：使用纳米结构电极的水电解-一种高效的制氢方法提案编号：CTS-0609006主要调查者：Nikhil Koratkar研究所：伦斯勒理工学院摘要：该NER项目的目的是研究在水电解槽中使用纳米结构电极高效生产氢气的可行性。传统电解水器的主要缺点是电池电极的高过电位损耗，导致大量的电力消耗，使这种系统的操作成本高得令人望而却步。纳米结构电极具有更大的比表面积(或湿面积)，加上较大的电场放大效应，可以显著降低电极的过电位损失，显著降低电解水的能耗。该项目的目标是探索纳米结构电极可用于提高性能的基本机制，并量化使用纳米结构电极所产生的性能好处。PIS将研究以Ru(Ru)纳米棒阵列为阴极，以平面Ru膜为阳极的电解水。初步结果非常有希望；他们显示，通过使用纳米结构电极，过电位损失减少了50%。这个NER项目的重点是通过进行一系列精心设计的控制实验，更好地理解使用纳米棒的基本机制。例如，为了研究电极面积和过电位损失之间的相关性，他们将系统地改变电极表面积(通过控制纳米结构的长度)。为了研究电场对过电势的影响，他们提出了控制纳米结构尖端的曲率；具体地说，他们将比较平顶(零曲率)Ru纳米棒阵列和原子尖锐(金字塔尖端-尖端)Ru纳米棒阵列的性能。为了研究电场效应，我们还将比较金字塔形尖端Ru纳米棒阵列和具有相同电化学活性面积的平面(扁平)Ru膜的性能。我们还建议研究电池几何形状、电极组成和温度对纳米结构电解槽性能的影响。该项目中提出的实验将使人们能够了解控制纳米结构电解槽响应的基本过程，并可以催化快速和创新的进步，从而开发出高效和低功率的纳米结构水电解单元。从更广泛的影响角度来看，氢经济将需要容易获得和负担得起的氢燃料。目前的制氢方法不能满足这些要求。提出了一种新型的水电解槽系统(采用纳米结构电极)，可以高效地生产氢气，降低能耗。重要的是，拟议的方法是环境清洁的，没有有害的废物排放到大气中(例如，没有二氧化碳排放)。拟议中的工作显示出显著提高氢气生产技术的潜力--为国家能源独立铺平道路，这是21世纪的重大挑战。为了将他们的研究发现与教育相结合，他们将开发特殊的互动学习模块(ILM)，并将其纳入伦斯勒的课程。这些ILM或“虚拟实验室”也将展示给新视野计划的高中生和教师，以帮助普及科学，并吸引代表不足的群体投身科学和工程职业。该项目还将使本科生积极参与研究活动以及拟议的互动学习单元的设计和开发。

Abstract Proposal Title: NER: Water Electrolysis Using Nanostructured Electrodes- An Efficient Approach to Hydrogen Production Proposal Number: CTS-0609006Principal Investigator: Nikhil Koratkar Institution: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Abstract: The aim of this NER project is to investigate the feasibility of using nanostructured electrodes to efficiently produce hydrogen in water electrolysis cells. The major drawback of conventional water electrolyzers is high over-potential losses at the cell electrodes leading to large electricity consumption making such systems prohibitively expensive to operate. The enhanced surface area (or wetted area) of nanostructured electrodes coupled with large electric field amplification effects could dramatically reduce over-potential losses at the electrodes and significantly lower energy consumption for water electrolysis. The objective for this project is to explore the fundamental mechanisms by which nanostructured electrodes may be used to improve performance and to quantify the performance benefits that result from their r use. The PIs will study water electrolysis using an array of Ruthenium (Ru) nano-rods as cathode and a planar Ru film as anode. Preliminary results were extremely promising;they showed a 50% reduction in over-potential loss by using nanostructured electrodes. This NER project is focused upon developing a better understanding of the basic mechanisms using nanorods by performing a series of carefully designed control experiments. For example- to study the correlation between electrode area and over-potential loss, they will systematically vary the electrode surface area (by controlling nanostructure length). To study the effect of electric field on the over-potential, they propose to control the curvature of the nanostructure tip; and specifically they will compare performance of flat-top (zero curvature) Ru nanorod arrays with atomically sharp (pyramidal tip-apex) Ru nano-rod arrays. To study the electric field effect we will also compare the performance of a pyramidal apex tip Ru nano-rod array with that of a planar (flat) Ru film with the same electrochemically active area. We also propose to study the effect of cell geometry, electrode composition and temperature on the nanostructured electrolyzer's performance. The experiments proposed in this project will enable an understanding of the fundamental processes that control the a nanostructured electrolyzer's response and could catalyze rapid and innovative advances leading to the development of high efficiency and low power nanostructured water electrolysis units. From a broader impacts perspective, the hydrogen economy will require readily available and affordable hydrogen fuel. Current methods of hydrogen production do not fulfill these requirements. A novel water electrolyzer system (featuring nanostructured electrodes) that could efficiently produce hydrogen with reduced energy consumption is proposed. Importantly the proposed approach is environmentally clean and no harmful waste products are released into the atmosphere (e.g. no CO2 emissions). The proposed work shows potential to significantly advance hydrogen production technology- paving the way for national energy independence, which is the grand challenge for the 21st century. To integrate their research discoveries with education they will develop special interactive learning modules (ILMs) and incorporate them into the curriculum at Rensselaer. These ILMs or "Virtual-Labs" will also be presented to high school students and teachers from the New Visions Program to help popularize science and to attract underrepresented groups to careers in science and engineering. This project will also involve active participation of undergraduate students in research activities and in the design and development of the proposed interactive learning modules.