Chemisorption System for the Development of Nanostructured Catalysts for Environmental and Energy Applications

用于开发环境和能源应用纳米结构催化剂的化学吸附系统

• 批准号: RTI-2017-00119
• 负责人: Simakov, David
• 金额: $ 10.28万
• 依托单位: University of Waterloo
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Research Tools and Instruments
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=616561
• 关键词: Chemisorption; System; Development; Nanostructured; Catalysts

Emerging catalytic materials have the potential to revolutionize the energy sector by enabling the commercialization of renewable energy conversion and waste utilization. For example, hydrogen can be generated by water splitting using solar and wind energy and reacted with CO2 to generate renewable synthetic fuels. Commercial low-cost catalysts are not suitable for CO2 conversion because of low activity and rapid deactivation. Catalysts based on noble metals are highly-active and stable but expensive, which reduces their economic viability. Novel catalysts based on emerging materials (e.g., carbides, nitrides, graphene) and nano-structuring (e.g., nanotubes, nanorods, core-shell nanoparticles) can provide superior catalytic properties, while being cost-effective at the same time. The development of a new generation of catalysts requires a detailed characterization of the material surface, because in heterogeneous catalysis, reactions occur at the interface between the catalytic surface and the reactant phase. The technique used for this type of analysis is chemisorption, which, unlike physisorption, involves a chemical reaction between the gaseous adsorbate and the surface site. The requested Chemisorption System is a high-performance, fully-automated analyzer for the quantification and characterization of catalytically-active surfaces. The system uses various adsorptives, including H2, CO, O2, and NH3, and is suitable for the characterization of a large variety of catalytic materials. The requested system, which is currently unavailable at the UW campus or in its vicinity, will enable the establishment of a multidisciplinary, collaborative program on advanced heterogeneous catalysis. This proposal is submitted by five faculty members; as such, we expect at least 10 PhD and >20 MASc students to be trained on the system over the first 5 years. HQP will gain catalyst characterization skills, which are in high demand in various industries, including oil and gas sector, as well as advanced technologies such as fuel cells. The system will be intensively used to characterize newly designed materials, providing important insights into the fundamental understanding of mechanisms of catalytic reactions. The data obtained will support or refute theoretical predictions, providing feedback to experimental work, and will ultimately guide further research towards the development of commercially viable catalytic materials. Research activities will focus on the development of emerging nanostructured materials for applications in three fields: thermocatalysis, electrocatalysis, and photocatalysis. We expect that research outcomes will advance energy conversion and waste utilization technologies; this will translate into positive impacts on Canada’s economy, as such technologies belong to a rapidly growing field of Clean Energy.

新兴的催化材料有可能通过实现可再生能源转换和废物利用的商业化来彻底改变能源部门。例如，氢气可以通过太阳能和风能的水分解产生，并与二氧化碳反应产生可再生的合成燃料。由于低活性和快速失活，商用低成本催化剂不适合用于CO2转化。基于贵金属的催化剂具有高活性和稳定性，但价格昂贵，这降低了它们的经济可行性。基于新兴材料（如碳化物、氮化物、石墨烯）和纳米结构（如纳米管、纳米棒、核壳纳米颗粒）的新型催化剂可以提供优越的催化性能，同时具有成本效益。新一代催化剂的开发需要对材料表面进行详细的表征，因为在非均相催化中，反应发生在催化表面和反应物相之间的界面上。用于这类分析的技术是化学吸附，与物理吸附不同，化学吸附涉及气态吸附物和表面部位之间的化学反应。