Hydrogen oxidation reaction at alkaline polymer electrochemical interfaces: Achieving mechanistic understanding through surface sensitive spectroscopy

特拉华大学徐炳军教授和严玉山教授在化学系化学催化项目的支持下，对燃料电池和电解槽的电化学有了基本的了解。提高效率和降低成本是这些清洁能源生产设备经济性能的关键。用更便宜的金属替换这些设备中含有传统贵金属的部件可以降低成本，但会导致效率降低。在这个项目中，对设备部件之间的相互作用有了基本的了解，以便能够在保持甚至提高其效率的同时使用廉价金属。K-12和本科生都参与了这个项目。此外，还开发了一个基于移动设备的软件应用程序，以提高对碳足迹和环境的认识，并提供一个共享绿色能源相关信息的平台。这项研究的主要目标是在分子水平上了解碱性聚合物电解质(有机阳离子)与电极的相互作用，以及它对氢氧化反应(HOR)活性的影响。原位衰减全反射表面增强红外吸收光谱(ATR-SEIRAS)主要用于关联自由和束缚有机阳离子的分子结构及其在电极表面吸附时的电位依赖构型。研究了自由和吸附有机阳离子的化学，包括它们与HOR中间体的相互作用，以及它们对HOR活性的影响和机理。由本项目建立的结构-活性关系指导了用于电化学能量转换装置的氢氧化物交换膜和电催化剂的设计。

Professors Bingjun Xu and Yushan Yan of the University of Delaware are supported by the Chemical Catalysis program of the Division of Chemistry to develop a basic understanding of the electrochemistry of fuel cells and electrolyzers. Increased efficiency and reduced cost are key to the economical performance of these clean energy producing devices. Replacing the traditional precious metal containing components of these devices with less expensive metals reduces costs but results in lower efficiency. In this project a fundamental understanding of the interaction between the device components is developed to enable the use of inexpensive metals while maintaining or even improving their efficiency. Both K-12 and undergraduate students are involved in the project. In addition, a mobile device-based software application is developed to raise awareness on carbon footprint and the environment and provide a platform for sharing green energy related information. The overarching goal of this research program is to understand the interaction of alkaline polymer electrolytes (organic cations) with electrodes at the molecular level, and its impact on the activity of the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR). In-situ attenuated total reflection - surface enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (ATR-SEIRAS) is primarily employed to correlate the molecular structure of free and tethered organic cations and their potential-dependent configurations when adsorbed on electrode surfaces. The chemistry of free and adsorbed organic cations, including their interactions with HOR intermediates and their impact on HOR activity and mechanism, are also investigated. The structure-activity relations established from this project guides the design of both hydroxide exchange membranes and electrocatalysts for electrochemical energy conversion devices.