RII Track-2 FEC: Feeding and Powering the World - Capturing Sunlight to Split Water and Generate Fertilizer and Fuels

非技术描述这项授予密西西比大学的研究基础设施改善Track-2聚焦EPSCoR*协作(RII Track-2 FEC)奖包括密西西比州立大学、杜兰大学和阿拉巴马大学塔斯卡卢萨大学作为合作项目的合作伙伴。项目？S的研究重点是水-能源-食品的联系。它的目标是开发低成本、高效的方法和设备，将阳光分解水生产氢气，并减少二氧化碳和氨以产生燃料和化肥。这项研究对于开发可持续燃料和合成肥料技术是非常可取的。这个合作项目将直接吸引和培训来自社区大学的7名教师、5名博士后、9名研究生和14名本科生、8名教师和16名学生，以及来自密西西比州、路易斯安那州和阿拉巴马州的60名中学教师和10名高中生。该项目的基础科学重点预计将促进美国墨西哥湾沿岸地区水-能源-食品关系的知识和技术的发展，并有可能与私营部门建立联系，以实现未来的技术转让和商业化。技术说明这个项目由密西西比州(MS)、路易斯安那州(LA)和阿拉巴马州(AL)的四个机构合作，在太阳能光催化方面有三个紧密结合的子项目：(1)分解水生产氢气？建立利用阳光的低成本和高效率方法，将等离子金属与半导体相结合，或使用纳米级碳-氧-钛催化剂和有机金属钳形化合物；(2)将二氧化碳还原为甲烷或乙醇燃料--探索利用Re络合物修饰半导体催化剂用于高压染料敏化太阳能电池的光电化学方法；以及(3)固定氮以生产农业肥料？准备具有足够还原潜力的催化剂，将氮气转化为氨。最终目标是将催化技术整合到一种低成本、高效率、不含有毒材料的太阳能电池中。该装置预计将有足够的电压来分解水以生产氢气，并将二氧化碳和氮气还原为可用燃料和化肥。这项研究与K-12到大学的教育相结合，并为密西西比大学、密西西比州立大学、杜兰大学和阿拉巴马大学的初级教员、博士后和学生以及MS、LA和AL的社区学院和历史上的黑人学院和大学的学生提供培训和指导。*促进竞争性研究的实验计划

Non-technical descriptionThis Research Infrastructure Improvement Track-2 Focused EPSCoR* Collaboration (RII Track-2 FEC) award to the University of Mississippi includes Mississippi State University, Tulane University, and the University of Alabama Tuscaloosa as partners in a collaborative project. The project?s research focus is at the nexus of water-energy-food. It aims to develop low-cost, high-efficient methods and devices that integrate water splitting by sunlight to produce hydrogen and to reduce carbon dioxide and ammonia to generate fuels and fertilizers. The research is highly desirable for developing sustainable fuel and synthetic fertilizer technologies. This collaborative project will directly engage and train seven faculty, five postdocs, nine graduate and 14 undergraduate students, eight faculty and 16 students from community colleges, as well as 60 secondary school teachers and 10 high school students from Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. The fundamental science focus of this project is anticipated to advance knowledge and technology in the water- energy-food nexus in the US gulf coast region and potentially connect with the private sector for future technology transfer and commercialization possibilities.Technical descriptionThis collaborative project among four institutions in Mississippi (MS), Louisiana (LA), and Alabama (AL) has three closely integrated sub-projects in solar photo-catalysis: (1) Production of hydrogen by splitting water ? establish low-cost and high-efficiency approaches that use sunlight and integrate plasmonic metals with semiconductors or use nanoscale carbon-oxygen-titanium catalysts and organometallic pincer complexes; (2) Reduction of carbon dioxide to methane or ethanol fuels - explore photo-electro-chemical methods that employ rhenium complexes to modify semiconductor catalysts for use in high-voltage dye sensitized solar cells; and (3) Fixation of nitrogen to produce agricultural fertilizers ? prepare catalysts with sufficient reduction potential to convert nitrogen to ammonia. The ultimate goal is to integrate catalysis technologies into a low-cost, high-efficiency solar cell that is devoid of toxic materials. The device is expected to have sufficient voltage to split water for hydrogen production and reduce carbon dioxide and nitrogen to usable fuels and fertilizers. The research is integrated with education at K-12 to collegiate levels and provides training and mentoring to junior faculty, postdocs, and students at the University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University, Tulane University, and the University of Alabama Tuscaloosa as well as those from Community Colleges and Historically Black Colleges and Universities in MS, LA, and AL.*Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research