SBIR Phase I: Improving Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzers via Novel Electrode Geometry

SBIR 第一阶段：通过新型电极几何结构改进阴离子交换膜水电解槽

• 批准号: 2223148
• 负责人: Philipp Muscher
• 金额: $ 27.49万
• 依托单位: ORIGEN HYDROGEN, INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-09-15 至 2023-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2223148&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Improving; Anion; Exchange

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to enable very highly-efficient low-cost green hydrogen production by improving a key functional component of a promising water electrolysis technology. Green hydrogen is a chemical fuel and a feedstock with no associated CO2 emissions. In an effort to decarbonize our economy, green hydrogen can address sectors of our economy that are not easily electrified using clean electricity, for example steelmaking, chemicals, heating, and heavy transport such as shipping and aviation. However, the cost of green hydrogen is still too high to prompt large-scale adoption. The pure-water electrolyzers developed in this project can significantly reduce green hydrogen production costs compared to the current state-of-the-art: they require only water and electricity as inputs, and are entirely made of low-cost, non-toxic materials, utilizing domestic supply chains. They are modular, enabling the development of both large hydrogen production facilities and small decentralized systems, e.g., for on-site operations or refueling stations. This project will not only help the adoption of green hydrogen, it will also elucidate how the chemical and electrochemical modifications of active surfaces can more broadly be used to make electrochemical reactions, such as water splitting, more efficient.This SBIR Phase I project proposes to drastically improve a key component of an anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer (AEMEL): the anode electrode. The anode is the site of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), a required but inefficient step during electrolytic hydrogen production. Enhancement of the OER kinetics by improved anode design, if translated to commercial AEMEL systems, would directly lead to a lower cost of green hydrogen. This project aims to replace the conventional two-layer anode, in which a complex catalyst layer is coated on top of a porous transport layer (PTL), with a simpler “unified” anode, in which the PTL is functionalized such that the catalyst layer is no longer necessary and the reaction kinetics are improved. In this project, two approaches to functionalize the PTL surface will be combined: the increase of the electrochemically active surface area (via etching, dealloying, and deposition techniques) and the increase of the intrinsic catalytic OER activity (via alloying and deposition techniques). This effort is expected to result in significantly improved AEMEL performance and lifetime, which will be evaluated using electrochemical methods, both ex situ (3-electrode cell) and in situ (in an operating electrolyzer).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是通过改善承诺水电解技术的关键功能组成部分来实现非常高效的低成本绿色氢生产。绿色氢是一种化学燃料，也是没有相关二氧化碳排放的原料。为了使我们的经济脱碳，绿色氢可以用干净的电力（例如钢材制造，化学物质，供暖和重型运输（例如运输和航空）来解决我们经济的领域。但是，绿色氢的成本仍然太高，无法提示大规模采用。与当前的最新面积相比，该项目中开发的纯水电解器可以显着降低绿色氢的生产成本：它们仅需要水和电作为输入，并且完全由使用家用供应链的低成本，无毒的材料制成。它们是模块化的，可以开发大型氢生产设施和小型分散系统，例如用于现场操作或加油站。 This project will not only help the adoption of green hydrogen, it will also elucidate how the chemical and electrochemical modifications of active surfaces can more broadly be used to make electrochemical reactions, such as water splitting, more efficient.This SBIR Phase I project proposals to drastically improve a key component of an anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer (AEMEL): the anode electrode.阳极是氧演化反应（OER）的位点，这是电解氢生产过程中所需但效率低下的步骤。如果将阳极设计（如果转换为商业AEMEL系统），通过改进的阳极设计增强OER动力学，将直接导致绿色氢的成本较低。该项目旨在替换传统的两层阳极，其中复杂的催化剂层涂在多孔传输层（PTL）的顶部，并具有更简单的“统一”阳极，其中PTL的功能化使催化剂层不再是必要的，并且反应动力学得到了改善。在这个项目中，将结合两种功能化PTL表面的方法：电化学活性表面积的增加（通过蚀刻，交易和沉积技术）以及内在催化OER活性的增加（通过合金和沉积技术）的增加。预计这项工作将导致AEMEL的性能和生命周期可显着提高，这将使用电化学方法进行评估，即Ex situ（3-电机单元）和原位（在操作电解器中）。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并认为通过该基金会的知识优点和广泛的criperia criperia criperia criperia criperia criperia criperia criperia criperia均被认为是宝贵的。