EAPSI: Novel Metal Nanoparticles to Improve the Efficiency and Reduce the Cost of Fuel Cells

随着工业革命的到来，越来越多的自然资源由于化石燃料的燃烧而枯竭。 为了解决这一问题，人们越来越多地努力研究更可持续的能源形式。 其中一个研究课题是燃料电池领域。 燃料电池非常有前途，因为它们的主要副产品是水，因此不会对环境造成任何额外的破坏。 然而，只有昂贵的金属才足够有效地用于这些设备中，这限制了这些产品的商业可用性。 该研究项目的目标是生产金属纳米颗粒，以提高燃料电池的效率并降低成本。 这项研究将与中国厦门大学的孙世刚教授合作进行。 孙教授的实验室是世界上顶尖的电化学研究实验室之一，因为可以获得一流的设备和材料，所以是一个理想的地方。具体的研究计划是制造多面纳米颗粒作为甲酸氧化反应的催化剂。 纳米粒子将通过电化学脉冲处理合成，这是孙教授实验室的专长。 我们将专门研究如何改变脉冲处理的参数将影响纳米粒子。 它们也将用衍生自重氮盐的脂族配体封端。 这些配体改变了金属周围的电子密度，从而影响燃料中间体的结合能，从而提高了氧化能力。 将测试电催化的效果，特别是甲酸氧化反应。 该反应的动力学是缓慢的，希望它们将被这些纳米颗粒改善。该NSF EAPSI奖支持美国研究生的研究，并与中国科技部合作资助。

With the advent of the industrial revolution, more and more natural resources are being depleted due to the burning of fossil fuels. As a resolution to this problem, there have been increasing efforts in studying more sustainable forms of energy. One of these research topics is in the area of fuel cells. Fuel cells are very promising because their main by-product is water, therefore not causing any extra damage to the environment. However, only expensive metals are efficient enough to be used in these devices and that limits the commercial availability of these products. The goal of this research project will be to produce metal nanoparticles that will improve the efficiency and lower the cost of fuel cells. The research will be conducted in collaboration with Professor Shi-Gang Sun at Xiamen University, Xiamen, China. Professor Sun's laboratory is one of the top electrochemical research laboratories in the world and would be an ideal place because of the access to top-notch equipment and materials. The specific research plan is to create multi-faceted nanoparticles as catalysts for the formic acid oxidation reaction. The nanoparticles will by synthesized using electrochemical pulse treatment, which Professor Sun's laboratory specializes in. We will specifically studying how changing the parameters of the pulse treatment will affect the nanoparticles. They will also be capped with aliphatic ligands derived from diazonium salts. These ligands change the electron density surrounding the metal and therefore affect the binding energy of fuel intermediates, therefore enhancing the oxidation ability. The effects will be tested electrocatalytically, specifically for the formic acid oxidation reaction. The reaction's kinetics are sluggish and hopefully they will be improved by these nanoparticles. This NSF EAPSI award supports the research of a U.S. graduate student and is funded in collaboration with the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology.