Tuning the Surface Chemistry of Structured Materials for Enhanced Performance

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Surface treatments are widely used to tune the properties of materials. Examples you may encounter on a daily basis include non-stick coatings on frying pans, scratch resistant coatings on sun glasses, and water repellent coatings on windows. Surface modifications are, however, integral to many more sectors of our economy. Nanotechnology, which lies at the heart of modern computer circuitry and which is poised to deliver an even larger array of products, has been touted for potential economic gains across multiple sectors of the economy. Harnessing the properties of many of these products relies on surface treatments such as molecular coatings, but quality of these coatings is highly variable. Variations persist between suppliers, as well as between different batches of material. The proposed research program will equip materials producers with the means to assess and control the quality of molecular coatings on their nanomaterials. This research will also provide the academic and industrial communities with methods that will increase the diversity of chemical species available to modify their nanomaterials. It will also enable the use of more widely available and easier to handle reagents. Equipped with these new methods and materials, the proposed program will apply this knowledge to improve the energy efficiency and durability of nanomaterials used for electrochemically driven catalytic processes in clean energy applications. The electrolysis of water is being sought to convert intermittent sources of energy into chemical energy. Hydrogen gas produced from water electrolysis can be stored, transported, and used on demand to operate low temperature fuel cells. The other product of this reaction is oxygen gas. Its production is less energy efficient than hydrogen gas production, which decreases the overall efficiency of water electrolysis. Also of concern for a wider scale implementation of water electrolysis is degradation of the electrocatalysts. The proposed program will develop a series of surface treatments to improve the energy efficiency of water electrolysis and the durability of its nano-catalysts. Further studies will extend this knowledge to improving water electrolysis, as well as other gas evolution reactions. This knowledge of surface treatments that enhance these electrochemically driven catalytic processes will be extended to electrocatalysts in low temperature fuel cells. The nano-catalysts and supporting particles within the catalyst layers of water electrolyzers and low temperature fuel cells will also be tuned for improved management of gas and water transport efficiencies. This research will improve the lifetime and energy efficiency of these systems. Canada is well positioned to take advantage of the fundamental knowledge created from the proposed program. Many Canadian companies are producing nanomaterials, and many more are utilizing these materials in applications that include water electrolyzers and fuel cells.