Smart Microgel-Based Membranes for Enhanced Catalysis and Electrochemical Cells - From Understanding Structure to Custom-Designed Devices.

用于增强催化和电化学电池的智能微凝胶膜 - 从了解结构到定制设计的设备。

• 批准号: 505656154
• 负责人: Professor Dr. Thomas Hellweg
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Laboratoire Charles Coulomb (UMR 5221 CNRS-UM2)
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 资助国家: 德国
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/505656154?language=en
• 关键词: Smart; Microgel; Based; Membranes; Enhanced

Catalysis, energy storage and conversion are at present of paramount societal relevance. Unfortunately, electrochemical potentials are basically known since one century and cannot be significantly enhanced. Therefore, the possibility to increase storage capacity and current flux is only possible by minimizing cells. This involves the development of smart membranes having thicknesses in the nanoscale. Moreover, such membranes should have smart properties allowing to control ion flux by external stimuli and having intrinsic safety properties e.g. self regulation of ion flux (current) upon overheating. Similar aspects apply to catalysis by nanoparticles (NP), which is highly effective due to NPs great specific surface. Anyhow, activity of NPs is difficult to control and the bare particles are difficult to separate from the product. In both contexts of smart membranes, the German partner has recently developed a way to cross-link microgels into macroscopic free-standing membranes which were found to exhibit resistance controlled by temperature. The microgels are made by copolymerisation of classical acrylamides and of photo- or electron beam-crosslinkable comonomers. However, at present many details of the local structure of these microgels are unknown, in particular how the comonomers (resp. nanoparticles) are spatially distributed, and how their distribution influences mechanical, resistive, or catalytic membrane properties. In a previous joint French-German project the Montpellier and the Bielefeld group have developed the tools which allow the determination of the structure of such copolymer microgels in detail by neutron scattering methods, based on isotopic substitution and computer simulations. The present project aims at exploiting and extending this knowledge to establish structure-property relations for smart microgel membranes. We will apply combinations of scattering, simulations, and imaging methods to specially-designed microgel particles containing different comonomers and catalytically-active nanoparticles in view of the formation of freestanding and crosslinked films. Then a similar analysis will be performed after film formation, and correlated with transport (resp. catalytic) properties. Based on this the partners will construct either first smart electrochemical devices, or proof-of-principle flow-through reactors with controllable catalytic activity.

催化、能量储存和转换目前具有重要的社会意义。不幸的是，电化学电势自世纪以来基本上是已知的，并且不能被显著地增强。因此，增加存储容量和电流通量的可能性只有通过最小化电池才有可能。这涉及具有纳米级厚度的智能膜的开发。此外，这种膜应该具有允许通过外部刺激控制离子通量的智能特性，并且具有固有的安全特性，例如在过热时离子通量（电流）的自调节。类似的方面适用于通过纳米颗粒（NP）的催化，由于NP的大比表面积，这是非常有效的。无论如何，NP的活性难以控制，并且裸颗粒难以与产物分离。在这两种智能膜的背景下，德国合作伙伴最近开发了一种将微凝胶交联成宏观独立膜的方法，发现这种膜具有受温度控制的电阻。微凝胶是由经典的丙烯酰胺和光或电子束交联共聚单体的共聚。然而，目前这些微凝胶的局部结构的许多细节是未知的，特别是共聚单体（分别为：纳米颗粒）在空间上分布，以及它们的分布如何影响机械、电阻或催化膜性能。在以前的一个法国-德国联合项目中，蒙彼利埃和比勒费尔德小组已经开发了工具，可以通过中子散射方法，基于同位素取代和计算机模拟，详细确定这种共聚物微凝胶的结构。本项目旨在利用和扩展这方面的知识，建立智能微凝胶膜的结构-性能关系。我们将应用散射，模拟和成像方法的组合，以专门设计的微凝胶颗粒含有不同的共聚单体和催化活性的纳米粒子，鉴于独立和交联膜的形成。然后在膜形成后进行类似的分析，并与传输（分别为催化）性质。在此基础上，合作伙伴将构建第一个智能电化学设备，或具有可控催化活性的原理验证流通反应器。