Improvement of electrocatalytic activity of the nickel cathode in alkaline electrolysers for hydrogen production: Development of novel NiW-oxide electrode materials

氢被认为是未来的“燃料载体”，并且越来越被认为是最好的。 化石燃料的替代品。氢气可以通过电解水产生，这提供了一个完全的 清洁的氢经济途径，不消耗化石燃料，也不排放二氧化碳， 特别是在太阳能、风能或水力发电的支持下。未来氢能公司的先进技术， 多兆瓦级碱性水电解槽采用了一种全新的、完全不同的流体流动方法 水电解，使其能够处理比常规水高得多的电流密度 电解器，同时也对高度可变甚至间歇性的电源(如风)做出快速反应 和太阳能。但是，为了充分利用公司先进的电解水器设计，更 需要具有电活性和稳定性的电极。本申请中提出的研究目标是 开发一种新型金属氧化物阴极(NixW1-x氧化物)，使其能够实现高析氢 更低的输入功率密度下的电流密度(从而更高的氢气产生率)，以及更好的长期 比目前使用的阴极更稳定/活性更高，从而最终降低了氢气生产成本。这个 拟议的研究小组，由电化学科学领域公认的专家和 工程和水电解槽生产独特地准备实现拟议的目标和 将实验室的结果转化为工业环境。这项研究将使开发一种 新型氢气发生器阴极，降低氢气生产成本，助力推广 可持续/可再生氢能源和发展与设计有关的基础知识 用于氢气发生器的电活性材料。这也可能使Next H2公司能够创造新的就业机会。 拟议的项目将通过麦吉尔大学的研究人员密切合作进行 和来自NeXT氢能公司的专家，最终将导致合作的扩大 未来。

Hydrogen has been identified as the 'fuel vector' of the future, and has increasingly been considered as the best alternative to fossil fuels. Hydrogen can be produced by electrolysis of water, which provides a completely clean route to the hydrogen economy without the consumption of fossil fuels or the emission of carbon dioxide, especially if supported by solar-, wind-, or hydro- produced electricity. Next Hydrogen Corporation's advanced, multi-MW scale alkaline water electrolyser takes a new and fundamentally different approach to fluid flow in water electrolysis, which allows it to handle much higher current densities than conventional water electrolysers, while also reacting quickly to highly variable and even intermittent power sources, such as wind and solar. However, in order to take full advantage of the company's advanced water electrolyser design, more electroactive and stabile electrodes are needed. The research proposed in the current application aims at developing a new class of metal-oxide cathodes (NixW1-x-oxide) that would enable high hydrogen evolution current densities (and thus higher H2 production rates) at lower input power densities, and better long-term stability / activity than the currently used cathodes, thus ultimately decreasing the H2 production cost. The proposed research team, consisting of recognized experts in the field of electrochemical science and engineering and water electrolysers production is uniquely poised to achieve the proposed objectives and translate the results from the laboratory to the industrial setting. The research will enable the development of a new class of cathodes for H2 generators, reduction in the cost of H2 production, contribution to the promotion of sustainable/renewable hydrogen energy and development of fundamental knowledge related to the design of electroactive materials for H2 generators. It might also enable Next Hydrogen Corporation to open new jobs. The proposed project will be conducted through the close collaboration of researchers from McGill University and experts form Next Hydrogen Corporation, and will ultimately lead to the expansion of the collaboration in the future.