Novel Redox Materials for Hydrogen Generation by High Temperature Water Splitting

由于工业化国家和发展中国家日益增长的需求，世界上的石油和其他化石储量正在迅速枯竭。因此，未来的能源需求必须由可持续的能源资源来满足。太阳提供的能量是地球的几千倍？美国目前的能源消耗率。利用太阳辐射并将其有效地从丰富的水源（如水）转化为氢能源载体将很容易满足当前和未来的全球能源需求。氢是最有前途的燃料之一，因为它是一种非常环保的气体，一旦燃烧就会产生水作为产物。目前有几种可用于制氢的技术。虽然电解水仍然是首选，但由于潜在的较低的资本投资要求，太阳能热化学技术也变得越来越重要。在热化学过程中，使用太阳能聚光器加热水，由此产生的蒸汽通过反应器中复杂无机氧化物材料的催化活性床，该反应器容易分解水，释放氢并将氧保留在固相中。然而，该工艺对氢气生成和催化剂再生步骤的温度要求明显不同。因此，这个过程的成功实现仍然需要与其他技术进行权衡。水的直接分解更具挑战性，因为水的热解需要非常高的温度（2200oC），并且在这些条件下将生成的氧气从氢气中分离出来非常具有挑战性。本研究的目的是利用溶胶-凝胶和自传播高温合成方法结合微波处理，合成泡沫状的新型氧化还原材料（如铁氧体）。这些材料将具有非常高的表面积和复杂的晶体结构，这将显著提高水分解过程的有效性。本研究将对水生成氢和复杂晶体氧化还原材料中离子传递过程的机理方面提供基本的理解。研究活动将侧重于确定在管式反应器中使用新型氧化还原材料的水裂解过程的效率。在成功完成拟议的研究工作后，我们将具备利用太阳能作为热源，以连续方式大规模生产氢气的能力。该研究活动将对学生、科学界和能源行业产生重大影响。该项目将为研究生和本科生提供替代能源和可持续能源供应领域的培训。此外，PI和Co-PI将把他们有趣的研究成果纳入本科和研究生教育。在拟议的研究期间，调查人员将通过向印第安人、高中生和K-12教师提供替代能源的演示和实践经验来加强推广活动。因此，这项研究的主要影响将包括推动我们走向替代能源的技术进步，科学和工程人力资源的发展，以及教学和研究的整合。

CBET-0756214PuszynskiWorld oil and other fossil reserves are rather quickly depleting due to growing demands from industrialized and developing countries. Therefore, future energy demands must be fulfilled by sustainable energy resources. The Sun provides several thousand times greater energy than the world?s present rate of energy consumption. Harnessing solar radiation and its effective conversion to hydrogen energy carrier from abundant source such as water will easily meet the current and future global energy requirements. Hydrogen is one of the most promising fuels because it is very environmentally friendly gas which once combusted generates water as a product. There are several technologies currently available for hydrogen production. Although electrolysis of water can still be a preferred option, solar thermochemical technology is also gaining significant importance due to potentially lower capital investment requirements. In thermochemical process, water is heated using a solar concentrator and steam thus produced is made to pass over a catalytically active bed of complex inorganic oxide materials in a reactor which splits water readily releasing hydrogen and retaining oxygen in a solid phase. However, this process requires significantly different temperatures for the hydrogen generation and catalyst regeneration steps. Thus, successful implementation of this process is still at trade-off with other technologies. Direct water splitting is by far more challenging since the thermal dissociation of water requires very high temperatures (2200oC) and the separation of generated oxygen from hydrogen is very challenging at these conditions. The goal of this research is to synthesize novel redox materials (e.g. ferrites) preferably in the form of foam-like materials using sol-gel and self-propagating high temperature synthesis methods coupled with microwave processing. These materials will have very high surface area and complex crystalline structure that will significantly increase the effectiveness of the water-splitting process. The proposed research will provide fundamental understanding of the hydrogen generation from water and mechanistic aspects of the ionic transport processes occurring in the complex crystalline redox materials. The research activities will focus on the determination of the efficiency of water splitting process using novel redox materials in a tubular reactor. After successful completion of the proposed research work, we will be equipped to generate hydrogen on a larger scale in a continuous manner utilizing solar energy as a heating source. The proposed research activity will have significant impact on students, scientific community, and energy industries. This project will provide training to graduate and undergraduate students in the area of alternative and sustainable energy supply. Additionally, PI and Co-PI will incorporate their interesting research findings into undergraduate and graduate education. During the proposed research period, investigators will enhance outreach activity by providing presentations and hands-on experience with alternative energy sources to Native Americans and high school students and K-12 teachers. Thus, major impacts of this research will include the technology advancements that move us towards alternative energy sources, the development of human resources in science and engineering, and integration of teaching and research.