CAS: Structure and Mechanism for Energy Capture from Anionic Seebeck Effects in Polymers

在化学系化学结构、动力学与机理-B项目的支持下，约翰霍普金斯大学材料科学与工程系和化学系的Howard Katz教授以及化学与生物分子工程系的Paulette Clancy教授正在开发一种新型材料，当材料的一侧比另一侧更热时，该材料可以产生电力。 电力来自称为离子的带电原子的重新排列，例如食盐中的钠和氯化物。 用于引起这种重排的热能可以被回收为更有用的电能。 例如，这种能量可用于给电池充电。 这是一种理想的能源利用方式，因为热量通常便宜甚至免费，例如来自太阳或车辆制动产生的热量。 该项目将为本科生、硕士和博士生提供培训，包括来自历史悠久的非裔美国人科平州立大学和摩根州立大学的学生，制造聚合物并研究其电子特性。 此外，这些学生还将接受计算机建模和人工智能引导的材料设计方面的培训。 聚合物中的离子塞贝克效应会根据温差产生电压，是一种颇具吸引力的电能收集方式，因为热源通常是免费的，否则可能会被浪费。它是由不同带电物质最稳定排列的差异驱动的，导致不同温度区域的电荷不平衡。 这种效应的化学基础此前仅进行了有限的分析。 该提案的目标是合成一组合理的具有不同尺寸的移动抗衡离子的阳离子聚合物，从中获得控制阴离子塞贝克系数的结构-活性关系，并对这些材料进行实验和计算测试，以分别产生必要的热电数据和结构/电子模型。 本研究旨在基于阴离子在介质中的重新分布（其中阴离子是主要的移动电荷载体），推导出并发展塞贝克系数起源的第一个机械解释，目标是开发更有效的热能到储存电能的转换。如果成功，这些研究有可能在能源科学、电化学和可持续化学解决方案领域产生广泛的科学影响。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With support from the Chemical Structure, Dynamics & Mechanisms-B Program of the Chemistry Division, Professors Howard Katz of the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering and of Chemistry, and Paulette Clancy of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Johns Hopkins University are developing a new type of material that can produce an electrical force when one side of the material is hotter than the other side. The electrical force comes from the rearrangement of charged atoms called ions, like the sodium and chloride of table salt. The heat energy that was used to cause this rearrangement can be recovered as more useful electrical energy. For example, this energy could be used to recharge a battery. This is a desirable way to utilize energy because the heat is often inexpensive or even free, such as from the sun or from the heat produced from applying brakes to a vehicle. The project will provide training for students at undergraduate, masters, and doctoral levels, including from the historically African-American Coppin State and Morgan State Universities, in making polymers and studying their electronic properties. Furthermore, these students will be trained in computer modeling and artificial intelligence-guided materials design. The ionic Seebeck effect in polymers, which produces a voltage from a difference in temperature, is an attractive means of harvesting electrical energy because the heat source is often free or might otherwise be wasted. It is driven by differences in the most stable arrangements of different charged species, creating an imbalance of charge in regions that differ in temperature. The chemical basis for this effect has had only limited prior analysis. The objectives of this proposal are to synthesize a rational set of cationic polymers with mobile counterions of varied size from which structure-activity relationships will be obtained governing the anionic Seebeck coefficient, and to perform experimental and computational tests of these materials to produce the necessary thermoelectric data and structural/electronic models, respectively. This study aims to derive and develop the first mechanistic explanation of the origin of Seebeck coefficients based on the redistribution of anions in media where anions are the principal mobile charge carriers, with the goal of developing more efficient conversion of heat to stored electrical energy. If successful, these studies have the potential for broad scientific impact in the areas of energy science, electrochemistry and sustainable chemistry solutions.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.