Scale-up of nanostructured electrocatalyst and nanofluid synthesis process

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This grant proposal aims the integration and scale-up of promising nanomaterial synthesis and nanostructure fabrication approaches in support of green technology developments. Researchers of the Plasma Processing Laboratory (PPL) and Electrochemistry/Corrosion Laboratory of McGill University have developed a series of processes to synthesize new nanostructured electrocatalysts for fuel production (hydrogen, ethanol, methanol) from water and carbon dioxide (CO2), energy-storage materials (electrochemical supercapacitors) as well as nanofluids (stable colloidal suspensions) for heat/mass transfer intensification, gas hydrate formation/inhibition, CO2 sequestration, and solar thermal energy harvesting. The large surface areas and volumes required for real applications (electrocatalysts for fuel production, nanofluids for CO2 absorption and solar thermal energy harvesting) are beyond the current nanofluid production capability of the PPL. If granted, the funds requested from NSERC will be used to demonstrate that the key unitary synthesis processes and protocols developed in the laboratory can be combined and that the overall process can be scaled-up (~25X). The funds will also permit to further our characterization work and performance evaluation of the produced nanomaterials. This scientific and engineering work is essential to prepare the technology and equipment for an eventual transfer of the technology to an industrial entity.