NER: Water Electrolysis using Nanostructured Electrodes- An Efficient Approach to Hydrogen Production

摘要提案题目：NER：利用纳米结构电极进行水电解——一种有效的制氢方法提案编号：cts -0609006项目负责人：Nikhil Koratkar机构：Rensselaer理工学院摘要：本NER项目的目的是研究利用纳米结构电极在水电解电池中高效制氢的可行性。传统的水电解槽的主要缺点是电池电极的高过电位损耗导致大量的电力消耗，使这种系统的运行成本过高。纳米结构电极的表面面积（或润湿面积）增大，加上大电场放大效应，可以显著减少电极的过电位损失，显著降低水电解的能耗。该项目的目标是探索纳米结构电极可能用于提高性能的基本机制，并量化其使用所带来的性能优势。pi将使用钌（Ru）纳米棒阵列作为阴极，平面Ru薄膜作为阳极研究水电解。初步结果非常有希望；他们发现，通过使用纳米结构电极，过电位损失减少了50%。该NER项目的重点是通过进行一系列精心设计的控制实验，更好地了解使用纳米棒的基本机制。例如，为了研究电极面积和过电位损耗之间的关系，他们将系统地改变电极表面积（通过控制纳米结构长度）。为了研究电场对过电位的影响，他们提出控制纳米结构尖端的曲率；具体来说，他们将比较平顶（零曲率）钌纳米棒阵列与原子尖（金字塔尖尖）钌纳米棒阵列的性能。为了研究电场效应，我们还将比较具有相同电化学活性面积的锥形尖端钌纳米棒阵列和平面（扁平）钌薄膜的性能。我们还建议研究电池几何形状、电极组成和温度对纳米结构电解槽性能的影响。本项目中提出的实验将使我们能够理解控制纳米结构电解槽反应的基本过程，并可以催化快速和创新的进步，从而开发出高效率和低功耗的纳米结构电解装置。从更广泛的影响角度来看，氢经济将需要容易获得和负担得起的氢燃料。目前的制氢方法不能满足这些要求。提出了一种新型的水电解系统（具有纳米结构电极），可以有效地产生氢气，降低能耗。重要的是，拟议的方法对环境是清洁的，不会向大气中释放有害废物（例如，不会排放二氧化碳）。这项提议的工作显示了显著推进氢气生产技术的潜力，为21世纪的重大挑战——国家能源独立铺平了道路。为了将他们的研究发现与教育相结合，他们将开发特殊的互动学习模块（ilm），并将其纳入伦斯勒的课程。这些ilm或“虚拟实验室”也将展示给来自新愿景计划的高中生和教师，以帮助普及科学，并吸引代表性不足的群体从事科学和工程事业。该项目还将涉及本科生积极参与研究活动，以及设计和开发拟议的互动学习模块。

Abstract Proposal Title: NER: Water Electrolysis Using Nanostructured Electrodes- An Efficient Approach to Hydrogen Production Proposal Number: CTS-0609006Principal Investigator: Nikhil Koratkar Institution: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Abstract: The aim of this NER project is to investigate the feasibility of using nanostructured electrodes to efficiently produce hydrogen in water electrolysis cells. The major drawback of conventional water electrolyzers is high over-potential losses at the cell electrodes leading to large electricity consumption making such systems prohibitively expensive to operate. The enhanced surface area (or wetted area) of nanostructured electrodes coupled with large electric field amplification effects could dramatically reduce over-potential losses at the electrodes and significantly lower energy consumption for water electrolysis. The objective for this project is to explore the fundamental mechanisms by which nanostructured electrodes may be used to improve performance and to quantify the performance benefits that result from their r use. The PIs will study water electrolysis using an array of Ruthenium (Ru) nano-rods as cathode and a planar Ru film as anode. Preliminary results were extremely promising;they showed a 50% reduction in over-potential loss by using nanostructured electrodes. This NER project is focused upon developing a better understanding of the basic mechanisms using nanorods by performing a series of carefully designed control experiments. For example- to study the correlation between electrode area and over-potential loss, they will systematically vary the electrode surface area (by controlling nanostructure length). To study the effect of electric field on the over-potential, they propose to control the curvature of the nanostructure tip; and specifically they will compare performance of flat-top (zero curvature) Ru nanorod arrays with atomically sharp (pyramidal tip-apex) Ru nano-rod arrays. To study the electric field effect we will also compare the performance of a pyramidal apex tip Ru nano-rod array with that of a planar (flat) Ru film with the same electrochemically active area. We also propose to study the effect of cell geometry, electrode composition and temperature on the nanostructured electrolyzer's performance. The experiments proposed in this project will enable an understanding of the fundamental processes that control the a nanostructured electrolyzer's response and could catalyze rapid and innovative advances leading to the development of high efficiency and low power nanostructured water electrolysis units. From a broader impacts perspective, the hydrogen economy will require readily available and affordable hydrogen fuel. Current methods of hydrogen production do not fulfill these requirements. A novel water electrolyzer system (featuring nanostructured electrodes) that could efficiently produce hydrogen with reduced energy consumption is proposed. Importantly the proposed approach is environmentally clean and no harmful waste products are released into the atmosphere (e.g. no CO2 emissions). The proposed work shows potential to significantly advance hydrogen production technology- paving the way for national energy independence, which is the grand challenge for the 21st century. To integrate their research discoveries with education they will develop special interactive learning modules (ILMs) and incorporate them into the curriculum at Rensselaer. These ILMs or "Virtual-Labs" will also be presented to high school students and teachers from the New Visions Program to help popularize science and to attract underrepresented groups to careers in science and engineering. This project will also involve active participation of undergraduate students in research activities and in the design and development of the proposed interactive learning modules.