Ionic Liquid Electrolytes for Intermediate-Temperature Electrolysers

虽然第一辆燃料电池驱动的汽车预计将于2015年在英国上路，但它们的成功在很大程度上取决于纯氢燃料和燃料基础设施的广泛可用性。英国政府最近宣布提供1100万英镑用于推出氢燃料基础设施，但目前氢是通过蒸汽重整天然气工业生产的，这是一个不可持续的过程，会产生二氧化碳并导致全球变暖。水的电解是迄今为止最可持续的产生纯氢的方法，并且正在开发的主要技术是（i）碱性电解，（ii）高温固体氧化物电解，和（iii）质子交换膜（PEM）电解。然而，这些技术中的每一种都受到严重的经济、技术和/或安全限制。中温PEM电解槽在150-300 ℃的温度范围内运行，与其他电解槽相比具有显著优势，包括潜在的较低运行成本、输送压缩氢气的能力和高热力学效率。然而，为了利用这些优势，仍然必须解决一些问题;特别是，必须改善PEM在中温范围内的性能和稳定性，并且必须减轻这些设备对贵金属催化剂的依赖。在这个项目中，我们的目标是解决这两个问题，通过开发新一代的PEM电解槽，含有质子传导离子液体作为电解质。使用这些材料作为PEM内的质子导体将使我们能够使用非贵重的、地球上丰富的电催化剂来实现氢和氧的析出，并解决阻碍最先进的PEM电解槽的稳定性问题，这些进步将导致PEM电解槽技术的飞跃。

While the first fuel cell-propelled cars are expected on UK roads in 2015, their success depends to a very large extent on the widespread availability of pure hydrogen fuel and a fuelling infrastructure. The UK government recently announced the provision of £11M for the roll-out of a hydrogen fuelling infrastructure, but hydrogen is currently generated industrially by steam reforming natural gas, an unsustainable process that co-generates carbon dioxide and contributes to global warming. Electrolysis of water is by far the most sustainable method for generating pure hydrogen and the major technologies under development are (i) alkaline electrolysis, (ii) high temperature solid oxide electrolysis, and (iii) proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis. However, each of these technologies suffers from serious economic, technological, and/or safety limitations. Intermediate-temperature PEM electrolysers operate in the temperature range 150-300 celsius and offer significant advantages over other electrolysers, including potentially lower running costs, the ability to deliver compressed hydrogen, and high thermodynamic efficiencies. However, to capitalise on these advantages, a number of issues must still be addressed; in particular, the performance and stabilities of PEMs in the intermediate-temperature range must be improved and the reliance of these devices on noble-metal catalysts must be mitigated. In this project, we aim to solve both of these problems by developing a new generation of PEM electrolysers that contain proton-conducting ionic liquids as the electrolyte. The use of these materials as proton conductors within PEMs will allow us to use non-precious, Earth-abundant electrocatalysts to effect hydrogen and oxygen evolution, and to solve the stability issues hampering state-of-the-art PEM electrolysers, advances that will lead to a step-change in PEM electrolyser technology.