Solar Fuels Materials Engineering

太阳能燃料材料工程

• 批准号: 121562-2013
• 负责人: Perovic, Doug
• 金额: $ 2.11万
• 依托单位: University of Toronto
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2017-01-01 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=638169
• 关键词: Solar; Fuels; Materials; Engineering

The objective of this research proposal is to realize a new class of photocatalysts made of earth abundant, low cost, sunlight stable and non-toxic materials that can generate solar fuels such as methanol or methane in an 'artificial photosynthetic' process akin to the way plants and some bacteria use sunlight to transform carbon dioxide and water in photosynthesis. Such a material has been referred to as an 'artificial leaf'. The research program will consider the optimal combination of materials properties including variations of elemental composition, bulk and surface structure, physical size and shape, extrinsic and intrinsic defects, optical absorption, electron, hole, and ionic transport, exciton transport and diffusion length, surface adsorption and surface diffusion, to enable fast, selective and efficient photo-transformation of carbon dioxide and water to solar fuels such as methane or methanol. In this program the material of choice for a practical solar fuels photocatalyst will be based upon acombination of metal oxide nanomaterials. The wide ranging chemical and physical properties of metal oxides that make them attractive for the development of a practical solar fuels heterostructured photocatalyst require proper alignment of electronic band energy levels of key metal oxides deemed useful for CO2 reduction. A solution to the current energy and climate problems may be to take a lesson from nature's photosynthetic apparatus, whereby the leaves of trees and plants, grasses and crops are able to sequester carbon dioxide and water from the atmosphere and in the presence of sunlight convert the mixture into energy-rich carbohydrates, with simultaneous release of oxygen to sustain life on earth. If a practical solar-driven process could be found for converting carbon dioxide to energy-rich fuels such as methane or methanol using solar light, with an overall efficiency comparable to or greater than plants, then with just ~0.2 % coverage of the earth's surface, it should be possible to produce 20 TW of energy. This should help to satisfy the global energy demand with the added advantage of helping to maintain atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations at current levels.

该研究提案的目标是实现一类新型光催化剂，该催化剂由地球丰富、低成本、阳光稳定且无毒的材料制成，可以在“人工光合”过程中产生甲醇或甲烷等太阳能燃料，类似于植物和一些细菌在光合作用中利用阳光转化二氧化碳和水的方式。这种材料被称为“人造叶”。该研究计划将考虑材料特性的最佳组合，包括元素组成，体和表面结构，物理尺寸和形状，外在和内在缺陷，光吸收，电子，空穴和离子传输，激子传输和扩散长度，表面吸附和表面扩散的变化，以实现快速，将二氧化碳和水选择性和有效地光转化为太阳能燃料，例如甲烷或甲醇。在这个计划中，选择用于实际太阳能燃料光催化剂的材料将基于金属氧化物纳米材料的组合。金属氧化物的广泛的化学和物理性质使它们对开发实用的太阳能燃料异质结构光催化剂具有吸引力，这需要适当调整被认为对CO2还原有用的关键金属氧化物的电子能带能级。解决当前能源和气候问题的一个办法可能是借鉴自然界的光合作用机制，树木和植物、草和农作物的叶子能够从大气中吸收二氧化碳和水，并在阳光照射下将混合物转化为富含能量的碳水化合物，同时释放氧气维持地球上的生命。如果能够找到一种实用的太阳能驱动过程，利用太阳光将二氧化碳转化为富含能量的燃料，如甲烷或甲醇，其整体效率与植物相当或更高，那么只需覆盖地球表面的约0.2%，就可以产生20 TW的能量。这将有助于满足全球能源需求，并有助于将大气中的二氧化碳浓度维持在目前的水平。