New electrode materials for hydrogen production by water electrolysis

使用化石燃料来满足我们的能源需求对地球造成了负面影响。由于对能源的需求将继续增长，温室气体排放增加的危险也将增加。解决方案之一是使用替代/绿色/可再生能源（风能、太阳能、水能）。然而，它们的间歇性存在一个问题，这个问题可以通过储存产生的电能以备需要时使用来解决。在这方面，氢气已被确定为一种有前途的储能介质/载体。加拿大政府已将氢确定为“到2050年实现净零排放目标的工具，并将加拿大定位为清洁可再生燃料的全球工业领导者”。“绿色氢”可以通过利用太阳能/风能/水力发电对水进行电解来生产：这是一条通往氢经济的清洁途径，不需要消耗化石燃料或排放二氧化碳。特别令人感兴趣的是聚合物-电解质-膜电解槽（PEMWEs），因为它们比成熟的碱性电解槽具有一系列优势。然而，目前的PEMWE电极需要非常高的昂贵铂和铱的负载。这里提出的研究旨在解决PEMWE技术的这一缺点，并有助于使其得到更广泛的应用。它概述了基于混合金属-氮化物/氧化物/硼化物（MMXs）的纳米结构电极材料的发展新策略，其Pt和Ir负载明显低于当前的PEMWEs，其长期目标是用完全非贵金属基电催化剂取代Pt/Ir。通过理论考虑和半组合电化学，以及使用裁剪电极的新方法，许多Pt/ ir - mmx将被确定并开发为纳米结构和Pt/ ir -单原子电极。该研究还将有助于我们了解这些材料的基本表面物理化学性质、表面形貌和形态、体结构和化学成分以及电子/介电性质如何影响其相应的电化学性质。反过来，这将使研究人员能够基于纳米和电子水平的现象设计各种应用的电极，而不是基于经验方法。拟开展的研究将培养2名博士、2名硕士和10名本科生。学生将获得电化学、表面和材料科学与工程领域的知识和先进的实验技能。学生将被训练使用最先进的实验研究工具，以及重要的软技能，如偏见意识、沟通和项目管理。预计该研究将产生有助于加拿大学术和工业部门的知识产权和知识。

The use of fossil fuels to meet our energy demands has created negative implications on the planet. Since the need for energy will continue to grow, the danger of increased greenhouse gas emissions will also grow. One of the solutions is to use alternative/green/renewable energy sources (wind, sun, water). However, their intermittent nature possesses a problem, which can be circumvented by storing exes of produced electrical energy to be used when required. In this respect, hydrogen gas has been identified as a promising energy-storage medium/vector. The Canadian Government has identified hydrogen "as a tool to achieve our goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 and position Canada as a global, industrial leader of clean renewable fuels". "Green hydrogen" can be produced by electrolysis of water using solar/wind/hydro-produced electricity: this is a clean route to the hydrogen economy without the consumption of fossil fuels or the emission of carbon dioxide. Of particular interest have become polymer-electrolyte-membrane water electrolysers (PEMWEs) since these offer a range of advantages over the well-established alkaline water electrolysers. However, current PEMWE electrodes require very high loadings of expensive platinum and iridium. The research proposed here aims at addressing this drawback of the PEMWE technology, and at contributing to bringing it to a wider-scale use. It outlines new strategies for the development of nano-structured electrode materials based on mixed-metal-nitrides/oxides/borides (MMXs) with a significantly lower Pt and Ir loadings than those in current PEMWEs, with the long-term goal of replacing Pt/Ir with completely non-noble-metal-based electrocatalysts. By theoretical considerations and semi-combinatorial electrochemistry, and using new approaches in tailoring electrodes, a number of Pt/Ir-MMXs will be identified and developed as nanostructured, and as Pt/Ir-single-atom-based electrodes. The research will also contribute to our understanding on how fundamental surface physicochemical properties, surface topography and morphology, bulk structure and chemical composition, and electronic/dielectric properties of these materials influence their corresponding electrochemical properties. This will, in turn, enable researchers to base the design of electrodes for various applications on phenomena at the nano- and electronic-level, rather than on empirical methods. The proposed research will train 2 PhD, 2 MSc and 10 undergraduate students. The students will gain knowledge and advanced experimental skills in the areas of electrochemistry and surface and materials science and engineering. The students will be trained to use state-of-the-art experimental research tools, and in important soft skills, such as bias awareness, communication and project-management. It is expected that the research will produce IP and knowledge that will contribute to the Canadian academic and industrial sectors.