Multidisciplinary research into linking renewable energy with utilising atmospheric carbon dioxide and with water desalination

申请人是一位经验丰富的能源研究人员，在聚合物电解质和使用直流和交流组合的燃料电池测试方面具有特殊的专业知识。电化学方法他为在萨里建立令人羡慕的能源研究设施做出了重大贡献。由申请人开发的阴离子交换离聚物和膜已经导致基于阴离子交换膜的能量系统的（国际）概况的显著增加。重要的突破包括具有高离子电导率的新型碱性聚合物（膜和离聚物）（一些发展被认为是非常重要的，并导致专利申请）。申请人将利用这一机会开发广泛的相互关联的颠覆性技术，建立一个受保护的知识产权的重点组合，并进一步激励当地，国家和国际研究人员在相关领域的团队合作。这是为了在共同点不明显的情况下，以连贯的方式将不同领域的互补链聚集在一起（逐步改变了针对有限领域的研究）。拟议的研究（管理风险简介）侧重于能源（可再生能源发电）这一突出的研究主题，并充分解决了技能人员的培训和供应议程。背景研究将继续开发用于清洁能源生产和储存（例如燃料电池和氧化还原液流电池）的新型材料（包括聚合物电解质材料、离聚物和混合质子/阴离子膜系统）。然而，该奖学金的主要目的是扩展上述技术，并将其与水技术和大气CO2的利用联系起来[后者是高度投机性的，但将解决在合成和改造化学工业中利用CO2的巨大挑战]。第一个具体的工作包将是研究低温无金属碳酸盐传导阴离子交换膜系统：在具有氢燃料阳极和空气/CO2混合进料阴极的燃料电池中利用这些含碳酸盐的AAEM可以建立碳酸盐循环，其中CO2被有效地从阴极泵送到阳极以形成潜在有用的二氧化碳/氢混合物用于化学合成[伴随着发电]。这种方法具有很高的影响潜力，由于申请人最近才开发出高性能阴离子交换离聚物材料，因此这种方法是及时的;它最初的目标是创新管道中的技术准备水平（TRL）1 - 4。第二个具体研究重点（针对TRL 1 - 5）是将能源技术（1）将[由萨里领导的] Supergen方案正在开发的生物燃料电池技术和知识扩展到自供电脱盐系统;和（2）通过将现有膜应用于反向电渗析系统，并开发用于反向电渗析系统的新的抗生物污染电解质膜。第一个涉及三个室单元，其包含阴离子和阳离子交换系统，其可用于使用生物催化剂和有机废水流来对盐水溶液进行脱盐，以自供电系统，并且其中废水也以潜在的零电网电力消耗进行处理。第二种方法涉及反向电渗析，其中盐度梯度直接用于产生可再生电力（即英国的电力潜力，这项研究也将受益于已经建立的英中合作（2006年由EPSRC资助的Interact赠款产生）和新设立的交叉-与印度Kharagpur的印度理工学院物理系进行了学科合作。

The applicant is an experienced energy researcher with particular expertise in polymer electrolytes and fuel cell testing using combined d.c. and a.c. electrochemical methods. He has made a major contribution to the establishment of enviable facilities at Surrey for energy research. The anion-exchange ionomers and membranes developed by the applicant have led to a significant increase in the (international) profile of anion-exchange membrane based energy systems. Important breakthroughs include novel alkaline polymers (membranes and ionomers) with high ionic conductivities (some developments deemed highly significant and led to the filing of a Patent). The applicant will use this opportunity to develop a broad range of interrelated disruptive technologies, to establish a focused portfolio of protected intellectual property and to further stimulate team-working between local, national, and international researchers in the associated fields; this is to draw together complimentary strands in disparate areas in a coherent manner where the commonalities are not readily obvious (a step-change move away from research that is targeted on a limited area).The proposed research (managed risk profile) is focused at the highlighted research theme of Energy (renewable generation) and fully addresses the training and supply of skilled people agenda. The background research will be to continue development of novel materials (including polymer electrolyte materials, ionomers and hybrid proton-/anion- membrane systems) for clean energy generation and storage (e.g. fuel cells and redox flow batteries). However, the principal aim of the Fellowship is to extend the above technologies and link them to water technologies and the utilisation of atmospheric CO2 [this latter is highly speculative but will address the grand challenge of utilising CO2 in synthesis and transforming the chemicals industry].The first specific work package will be to investigate low temperature metal-free carbonate-conducting anion-exchange membrane systems: Utilisation of these carbonate-containing AAEMs in fuel cells with hydrogen fuelled anodes and air/CO2 mixed feed cathodes can set up a carbonate cycle, where the CO2 is effectively pumped from the cathode to the anode to form a potentially useful carbon dioxide/hydrogen mixture for chemical synthesis [with concomitant generation of electricity]. This approach has a high impact potential, that is timely due to the only recently developed (by the applicant) high performance anion-exchange ionomeric materials; it is initially aimed at Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 1 - 4 in the innovation pipeline. The second specific research focus (targeted at TRLs 1 - 5) is to directly link energy technologies (biological and chemical) to water technologies by: (1) extending the biological fuel cell technologies and knowledge being developed in the Supergen programme [led by Surrey] to self powering desalination systems; and (2) by applying current membranes to, and developing new biofouling resistant electrolyte membranes for, reverse electrodialysis systems. The first involves three chamber cells containing both anion- and cation-exchange systems that can be used for desalination of aqueous salt solutions using biological catalysts and organic waste water streams to self power the systems and where the waste water is also treated with potentially zero grid electricity consumption. The second involves reverse electrodialysis where gradients in salinity are directly utilised to generate renewable electricity (i.e. UK electricity potential where river, brackish and sea waters meet).The research will also benefit from already established UK-China collaborations (resulting from an EPSRC funded Interact grant in 2006) and a newly established cross-disciplinary collaboration with the Department of Physics at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur, India.