Research into Emerging Nano-structured Electrodes for the splitting of Water (RENEW)

主要研究者：McIntyre，Paul提案编号：1336844机构：斯坦福大学题目：研究新兴的纳米结构电极分解水（RENEW）这个项目将集中在光电化学分解水为氢和氧。 水在阳极表面的氧化是动力学上困难的过程，即使在最有效的催化剂，贵金属如Ir或Ru及其氧化物上，通常也需要几百毫伏的过电位。 PI将研究用于超薄膜沉积，纳米结构和表面合金化的原子层沉积（ALD），以最大限度地减少这些金属在高效水氧化催化剂中的使用，并探索更多地球丰富的催化剂替代品，用于单结和串联光电化学电池中的析氧反应（OER）和析氢反应（HER）。ALD在半导体器件制造领域已经建立了良好的基础，目前正在研究其在能源领域的应用，从而实现高影响力的发现。该项目将是一个国际合作伙伴关系，由NSF、科学基金会爱尔兰和投资北方爱尔兰通过美国-爱尔兰研究与发展伙伴关系计划共同支持。 如果得到NSF的支持，RENEW项目将承担四个PI？在三所大学（斯坦福大学，廷德尔国家研究所/UCC，皇后大学贝尔法斯特）有互补的专业知识。该方法整合了我们大学的活动，以提供显着的智力优势和独特的更广泛的研究影响。PI将专注于沉积在ALD生长的隧道氧化物载体上的水氧化催化剂的纳米级工程。 与最近关于无针孔隧道氧化物在硅上进行有效和稳定的光电化学水氧化的工作相一致，PI将测试这些层是否能够对各种地球丰富的半导体吸收剂进行腐蚀保护，并具有适当的带边，以实现有效的太阳能驱动水分解。随着ALD作为纳米材料设计的多功能工具，目标是研究超薄膜和纳米级岛催化剂，以及隧道氧化物层中贵金属的表面合金化。后者的结构构成了一个更厚的RuO 2-TiO 2尺寸稳定的阳极涂层在电化学工业中使用的ALD生长的类似物。RENEW团队的工作将包括通过湿化学合成方法筛选地球上丰富的纳米晶OER催化剂，并开发ALD沉积工艺。 PI还将探索用于具有耐腐蚀光电阳极和阴极的单结和串联光合作用电池的II-VI族半导体吸收剂。 这项研究的可能应用包括电网规模的太阳能储存和太阳能驱动的更复杂和能量密集的碳氢化合物燃料的合成，其中水氧化可能是一个必要的步骤。该项目的更广泛的影响将来自国际人员交流，包括扩大学生研究人员在RENEW团队大学的访问，以及能源和材料研究与斯坦福大学本科科学教育的结合。在教育和推广方面的两项联合努力之一中，PI计划合作开发一个新生级电化学课程模块，使用电解水和金属腐蚀防护作为电化学实际应用的例子。该模块将可从互联网上免费下载，并将包括足够的材料，在一个学期的介绍化学课程2-3讲座。PI还计划通过利用斯坦福大学现有的NSF夏季REU项目，让来自其他美国大学的本科研究人员参与该项目，并特别注意识别和招募有前途的女性和代表性不足的少数民族学生作为夏季研究人员。

PI: McIntyre, PaulProposal Number: 1336844Institution: Stanford UniversityTitle: Research into Emerging Nano-structured Electrodes for the splitting of Water (RENEW)This project will focus on photoelectrochemical splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen. Oxidation of water at the anode surface is a kinetically difficult process, typically requiring overpotentials of several hundred millivolts even on the most efficient catalysts, noble metals such as Ir or Ru and their oxides. The PI will study atomic layer deposition (ALD) for ultra-thin film deposition, nanostructuring and surface alloying to minimize the use of these metals in highly efficient water oxidation catalysts, and to explore more Earth-abundant catalyst alternatives for both oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in both single-junction and tandem photoelectrochemical cells. Well-established in semiconductor device fabrication, ALD is now being investigated for energy applications, enabling high-impact discoveries.This project would be an international partnership supported jointly by NSF, Science Foundation Ireland, and Invest Northern Ireland through the US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership Program. If supported by NSF, the RENEW project would bring to bear the efforts of four PI?s at three universities (Stanford, Tyndall National Institute/UCC, Queens University Belfast) with complementary expertise. The approach integrates activities at our universities to provide both significant intellectual benefits and unique broader impacts of the research.The PI will focus on the nanoscale engineering of water oxidation catalysts deposited on ultrathin, ALD-grown tunnel oxide supports. Consistent with the recent work on pinhole-free tunnel oxides for efficient and stable photoelectrochemical water oxidation on silicon, the PI will test if these layers achieve corrosion protection of a variety of Earth-abundant semiconductor absorbers with appropriate band edges for efficient solar-driven water splitting. With ALD as a versatile tool for nanoscale materials design, the goals are to study ultra-thin film and nanoscale island catalysts, and surface-alloying of noble metals in tunnel oxide layers. The latter structures constitute an ultrathin, ALD-grown analogue to the much thicker RuO2-TiO2 dimensionally stable anode coatings used in the electrochemical industry. RENEW team efforts will include screening of Earth-abundant, nanocrystalline OER catalysts by wet chemical synthesis methods and development of ALD processes for their deposition. The PI will also explore II-VI semiconductor absorbers for single-junction and tandem photosynthesis cells with corrosion-resistant photoanodes and cathodes. Possible applications of this research include grid-scale storage of solar energy and solar-driven synthesis of more complex and energy-dense hydrocarbon fuels, for which water oxidation is likely a required step.Broader impacts of this project would flow from both international personnel exchanges, including extended student researcher-in-residence visits, across the RENEW team universities, and the coupling of energy and materials research with undergraduate science education at Stanford. In one of two joint efforts in education and outreach, the PI plan to collaborate in the development of a freshman-level electrochemistry course module, using electrolysis of water and corrosion protection of metals as examples of practical applications of electrochemistry. The module will be available for free download from the internet and will include sufficient material for 2-3 lectures in a semester-long introductory chemistry course. The PI also plan to involve undergraduate researchers from other US universities in this project by leveraging existing NSF summer REU programs at Stanford, with special attention given to identifying and recruiting promising female and under-represented minority students as summer researchers.