Clean Energy

人为碳排放导致的气候变化是当今人类面临的最紧迫挑战之一。洪水、不稳定和极端的天气条件以及严重的干旱不仅影响人口稠密的沿海地区，也影响到拥有重要基础设施的内陆城市。就在刚刚过去的这个冬天，德克萨斯州的极端天气条件，加上能源储存不足和传统发电设施脆弱，导致该州大部分地区连续数天没有电、暖气和清洁水。清洁能源对于建立能源安全以及减少社会对化石燃料的依赖至关重要，这两者对于防止进一步的破坏性影响都是必要的，否则气候变化的一切照旧的道路将会实现。电化学装置是清洁能源储存和零本地排放的按需电力的有前途的技术。聚合物电解质膜（PEM）燃料电池和电解槽目前已商品化；然而，它们的高成本使其难以广泛采用。降低PEM燃料电池和电解槽的成本取决于为超低负荷量身定制的新型催化剂层的开发，以及优化的反应物和产物运输。如果没有这种关键的能力，以准确的形态特征来告知和验证新催化剂的设计，燃料电池和电解槽将局限于当前的性能和成本，从而禁止广泛采用。为了降低成本，新材料和界面设计必须了解多孔材料和催化剂层，特别是在原始和退化条件下。由于电化学转换技术的不透明性，传统的显微镜技术无法直接观察纳米级复合材料的三维结构。Bazylak教授通过2D operando成像的特殊应用，在推进PEM燃料电池和水电解槽方面开展了国际公认的工作。她将利用她过去的专业知识，通过空间解析燃料电池、水电解槽和二氧化碳电解槽的电化学性能、材料特性和行为，并在3D中开发更经济、更持久、更紧凑的电化学能量转换设备，将她的研究引向一个新的方向。

Climate change due to anthropogenic carbon emissions is one of the most pressing challenges facing humanity today. Floods, erratic and extreme weather conditions, and severe droughts affect not only highly populated coastal regions, but also municipalities with significant infrastructure far inland. As recently as this past winter, extreme weather conditions in Texas combined with insufficient energy storage and vulnerable conventional power generation facilities left a significant portion of the state without power, heat, and clean water for days. Clean energy is vitally needed to build energy security as well as reduce society's reliance on fossil fuels, both of which are needed to prevent further devastating impacts that would otherwise be realized with a business-as-usual pathway for climate change.Electrochemical devices are promising technologies for clean energy storage and on-demand electricity with zero local emissions. Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells and electrolyzers are currently commercially available; however, their high costs are prohibitive for widespread adoption. Decreasing the cost of PEM fuel cells and electrolyzers is contingent upon the development of new catalyst layers tailored for ultra-low loadings and optimized reactant and product transport. Without this key ability to inform and validate the design of new catalysts with accurate morphological characterizations, fuel cells and electrolyzers will be limited to current performances and costs that prohibit widespread adoption. To reduce costs, new material and interface designs must be informed by an understanding of the porous materials and catalyst layers, particularly in pristine and degraded conditions. Due to the opaque nature of electrochemical conversion technologies, traditional microscopy does not provide the capability to directly observe the 3D structure of nanoscale composite materials. Prof. Bazylak has developed internationally recognized work in advancing PEM fuel cells and water electrolyzers through the particular application of 2D operando imaging. She will leverage her past expertise and take her research in a new direction by spatially resolving the electrochemical performance, materials characteristics and behaviour for fuel cells, water electrolyzers, and carbon dioxide electrolyzers operando and in 3D to develop more affordable, longer lasting, and more compact electrochemical energy conversion devices for widespread adoption.