Clathrates for Energy Storage

全球需要保护我们的天然碳氢化合物资源，控制温室气体排放和随之而来的全球变暖也有新的紧迫性。开发和实施基于可再生、非化石能源的替代技术将是未来的关键。其中一些技术/如风电场、太阳能和潮汐发电/是我们所熟悉的，但这些都与能源生产有关，而不是与能源储存有关。在我们目前依赖碳氢化合物化石燃料的应用中，有很大的需要取代它们。一些最大的挑战集中在交通运输方面，预计将出现燃料电池和基于气体(最初以甲烷为基础)的车辆。一个常见的技术问题是天然气的安全和经济高效的储存。低效率、易中毒和不可接受的系统重量/体积等问题都是此类技术成功必须解决的障碍。这项提议的重点是开发笼状系统，将甲烷等气体捕获到分子笼中。这些系统是环保的，因为它们大多以水为基础。然而，一个主要的问题是形成笼状化合物的时间尺度--通常是几天的量级。显然，这样的时间尺度对于交通应用来说是不可接受的。这项提案的重点是开发一种新技术并为其申请专利，以极大地加速笼状气体的存储--例如，将形成时间从几个小时减少到几分钟。这可能会开启此类技术的商业化进程，并有助于解决这一重大的环境和社会问题。

There is a global need to conserving our natural hydrocarbon resources and a new urgency in controlling greenhouse gas emissions and consequential global warming. Development and implementation of alternative technologies based on renewable, non-fossil based sources will be key in the future. Some of these technologies / such as wind farms, solar power, and tidal power / are familiar to us, but these all relate to energy generation, not energy storage. There is a major need to replace hydrocarbon fossil fuels in applications where we are currently reliant on them. Some of the largest challenges centre around transportation, where fuel cells and gas-based (initially methane-based) vehicles are anticipated. A common technological problem is the safe and cost-effective storage of gas. Issues such as low efficiency, ease of poisoning, and unacceptable system weight/volume are all barriers which must be addressed for such technologies to succeed. This proposal focuses on the development of clathrate systems which trap gases such as methane in molecular cages. These systems are environmentally-friendly since they are mostly based on water. A major problem, however, is the timescale for clathrate formation - often of the order of days. Clearly, such timescales are unacceptable for transportation applications. This proposal focuses on developing and patenting a new technology for greatly accelerating the storage of gases in clathrates - for example, reducing formation times from hours to a few minutes. This could open up the commercialisation of such technologies and help to address this major environmental and societal problem.