UNS:EFFECT OF METAL OXIDE INTERACTIONS ON OXYGEN EVOLUTION REACTION FOR WATER ELECTROLYSIS

首席研究员（PI）之前的工作已经确定了一种有前途的催化剂配方，用于在高酸性电催化环境下通过析氧反应（OER）生产氢。该催化剂部分取代了成本较低的锡（Sn），取代了昂贵的贵金属铱（Ir）和钌（Ru）。本研究的目的是进一步了解含锡催化剂的高性能和稳定性的原因，为开发更好的催化剂提供指导。拟议的工作将有助于改进、降低成本、各种能源应用的电催化剂，并将为高中生开发创造性的教育工具，同时为代表性不足的少数民族提供本科生和研究生的机会。目前的提案扩展了PI之前的氟掺杂混合氧化物SnIr催化剂的工作，以获得对其在减少贵金属负载的情况下具有高性能的基本理解。将采用理论和实验方法，重点研究一系列sn - ir比不同和f掺杂水平不同的SnIr催化剂。通过将表面和体实验探针与密度泛函理论（VASP代码）计算方法相结合，他们将获得对f掺杂混合氧化物催化剂的稳定性和性能属性负责的几何和电子结构的基本理解。与目前的催化剂技术相比，含有更少的昂贵贵金属的催化剂促进了我们对水电解的理解，因此，拟议的工作有可能广泛地影响我们的理解，从而有助于燃料电池、制氢和整体能源可持续性领域的进展。该研究还将为本科生和研究生提供教育和培训机会，包括从北卡罗来纳州农业和技术州立大学招募少数民族学生。此外，PI还将开展一项雄心勃勃的计划，让高中生参与到水水解的挑战和机遇中，包括视听动画和动手演示。

Previous work by the principal investigator (PI) has identified a promising catalyst formulation for the production of hydrogen via the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in highly-acidic electrocatalytic environments. The catalyst partially substitutes lower-cost tin (Sn) for the expensive noble metals iridium (Ir) and ruthenium (Ru). The goal of the present study is to further understand the reasons for the high performance and stability of the the Sn-containing catalysts as a guide for developing even better catalysts. The proposed work will contribute to improved, lower cost, electrocatalysts for a variety of energy applications and will develop creative educational tools for high school students in addition to undergraduate and graduate opportunities for underrepresented minorities.The present proposal expands the PI's previous work with fluorine-doped mixed oxide SnIr catalysts to gain fundamental understanding of the reasons for their high performance with reduced noble metal loading. Both theoretical and experimental approaches will be employed focusing on a range of SnIr catalysts with varying Sn-to-Ir ratio, and with various levels of F-doping. By combining surface and bulk experimental probes with Density Functional Theory (VASP code)computational methods, they will obtain fundamental understanding of both the geometric and electronic structures responsible for the stability and performance attributes of the F-doped mixed oxide catalysts.The proposed work has the potential to broadly impact our understanding of water electrolysis as promoted by catalysts containing reduced amounts of expensive precious metals compared to current catalyst technology, thereby aiding progress in areas related to fuel cells, hydrogen production, and overall energy sustainability. The research will also provide education and training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, including recruiting minority students from North Carolina Agriculture and Technical State University. In addition, the PI will undertake an ambitious program to engage high school students in the challenges and opportunities around water hydrolysis including audio-visual animation and hands-on demonstrations.