Iridium-Based Alloys as Alternative Catalysts for Ethanol Oxidation Fuel Cell Reactions: Experimental and First Principles-based Investigation

技术影响：本研究的目的是发展和利用对结构电活性关系的基本理解，推动设计用于乙醇燃料电池直接反应的高效高效阳极催化剂的研究。乙醇由于其高能量密度、低毒和可获得性，在电力技术中是一种很有前途的燃料，包括生物质。目前铂基催化剂具有动力学慢、电氧化选择性低的特点。PIs建议研究铱基阳极催化剂，以提高乙醇氧化成二氧化碳的效率。铱的动力是一些非常初步的迹象表明，与铂相比，铱将提供更好的活性和选择性。众所周知，铱在碳-碳键断裂方面比铂更活跃，因此可能导致氧化活性的提高。根据相对性能，结果将为建模工作提供依据。这项工作可能会提供一个更好的选择相对于铂和铱，因为这些是稀有和昂贵的元素。要发展的基础科学是这项努力的关键技术成果。更广泛的影响：用一种更高效的阳极纳米催化剂替代铂，可能会对直接乙醇燃料电池技术产生重大影响。这项技术是支持国家努力使其能源供应组合多样化的几种技术之一。这是一个跨学科的努力，结合材料科学，电化学，催化在燃料电池的研究。学生将有机会学习这些学科的一些知识，并将在国家实验室设施接受直接培训。除了这些为研究生和本科生提供的优秀培训机会外，PI还打算利用新罕布什尔大学校园内的两个项目。这些是夏季本科生研究奖学金和研究经验和学徒计划，以及新罕布什尔大学科学和数学成就研究培训项目。两者都强调接触、培训和招募代表性不足的学生。该奖项被授予新罕布什尔大学的滕晓伟教授、伍斯特理工学院的纳撒尼尔·德克斯金斯教授和纽约叶史瓦大学的阿纳托利·弗伦克尔教授。从技术角度来看，这一提议特别有趣，因为它将计算、合成和燃料电池性能测量结合在一起。学生将进行电催化实验，然后结合计算研究结果指导他们进一步的合成实验。因此，这是一个合作的努力，需要所有三个调查员，以提供该项目所需的学科广度。为了进一步证明这一提议的协作性质，PI打算在布鲁克海文国家实验室采用光束线时间。因此，除了标准的实验室程序外，学生还将学习这些技术，并将了解国家实验室设施如何以及在何处适合他们未来的研究计划。

CBET-1159662Teng, XiaoweiTechnical impacts:The aim of this investigation is to develop and use fundamental understanding of the structure electroactivity relationship to drive research in devising highly active and efficient anode catalysts for direct ethanol fuel cell reactions. Ethanol is a promising fuel in power technologies due to its high energy density, low toxicity, and availability from sources including biomass. The current platinum-based catalysts offer slow kinetics and inefficient electro-oxidation selectivity. The PIs propose to study iridium-based anode catalysts to improve the efficiency of the oxidation of ethanol to carbon dioxide. The impetus for iridium is some very preliminary indications that iridium will offer superior activity and selectivity in comparison to platinum. It is known that iridium will be more active than platinum for carbon-carbon bond breaking, and may therefore lead to improved activity for oxidation. Depending on the relative performance, the results will feed the modeling work. This work then will perhaps offer an improved choice relative to platinum and iridium, as these are rare and expensive elements. The fundamental science to be developed is the key technical gain for this effort. Broader impacts: Replacing platinum with an alternative, more efficient anode nanocatalyst is likely to have a significant impact on direct ethanol fuel cell technology. This technology is one of several that support the nation's effort to diversify its energy supply portfolio. This is a cross-disciplinary effort which joins material science, electrochemistry, and catalysis in the fuel cell studies. Students will have the opportunity to learn something of each of these disciplines, and will also receive direct training at national laboratory facilities. In addition to these excellent training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students, the PI intends to utilize two programs available to him on the campus of University of New Hampshire. These are the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship and Research Experience and Apprenticeship Program, and the University of New Hampshire Science and Mathematics Achievement through Research Training Project. Both emphasize exposure, training, and recruiting of under-represented students. This award is being made to Professors Xiaowei Teng from the University of New Hampshire, Nathaniel Deskins from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Anatoly Frenkel from Yeshiva University, New York. The proposal is of special interest from a technical point of view as it combines computation, synthesis, and fuel cell performance measurements in a nice package. The students will carry out electro-catalysis experimentation and then use results combined with computational studies to direct their further synthesis experiments. As such, it is a collaborative effort, requiring all three investigators in order to offer the disciplinary breadth required by this project. As further demonstration of the collaborative nature of this proposal, the PI intends to employ beamline time at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Students will thus learn these techniques in addition to the standard laboratory procedures, and will understand how and where National Laboratory facilities fit into their future research plans.