CAREER: Surface-Inspired Catalysis via an Updated Cluster-Surface Analogy

在化学系化学催化（CAT）项目的支持下，宾夕法尼亚大学的尼尔·汤姆逊教授正在开发新的化学路线来制造运输燃料。交通运输占美国所有能源消耗的四分之一。大多数交通燃料来自石油。该项目的目标是与现有基础设施相适应的可再生能源燃料。其中一个目标是将氢和氮结合产生氨，这是一种潜在的新型“储能介质”。第二个项目研究从二氧化碳（二氧化碳，一种工业废料）到碳氢化合物的新途径。目前这种化学反应的方法很昂贵；为了潜在地降低二氧化碳燃料生产的成本，这项研究强调了新型催化剂的设计。这些新的催化剂以类似于大块金属催化剂的方式以金属对为特征。这些特殊的几何形状有助于生产燃料所需的键形成和键断开步骤。参与本项目的学生将获得先进化学合成和催化剂评价的实践经验。这些年轻的研究人员还接受了向广大受众传播科学成果的培训。这一培训包括针对高中生的讲座和视频制作。目标受众包括传统教育场所服务不足和STEM学科代表性不足的人群。截至2018年，交通运输部门使用的能源中有92%来自石油开采。这种资源的预期枯竭，加上环境和国家安全问题的转变，促使人们开发既来自可再生资源又与国家现有能源基础设施兼容的燃料。在这个由化学系化学催化项目支持的项目中，宾夕法尼亚大学的Neil Tomson教授研究了合成氨和烷烃的新催化剂。虽然太阳能氢变得越来越可用，执行低能量氢化小原料化学品的方法仍然不发达。汤姆森教授的研究目标是两个可能对未来能源经济至关重要的过程。第一个过程的目的是使氨脱氢。第二个过程是相关的，旨在从合成气中产生碳氢化合物。本研究的灵感来自于多相催化，特别是那些利用金属表面的多相催化。这种新型催化剂结合了电子和几何柔韧性，可以模拟金属表面的关键特征。在初步实验中，新催化剂已被证明可以稳定广泛的中间体，这些中间体先前被提议用于Mittasch和Fischer-Tropsch催化剂。最后，这个项目的重点是减轻国家对化石燃料的依赖，这突出了未来科学家需要能够在他们的直接学科之外进行创造性思考。通过接触高中生、本科生和研究生，包括许多在STEM学科中代表性不足的少数民族，该项目努力激励下一代科学家，同时帮助发展对这种跨领域创造力至关重要的元认知技能。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Supported by the Chemical Catalysis (CAT) Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Neil Tomson of the University of Pennsylvania is developing new chemical routes to make transportation fuels. Transportation accounts for one-quarter of all energy use in the United States. Most transportation fuel comes from petroleum. This project targets fuels from renewable sources that adapt well with current infrastructure. One objective focuses on combining hydrogen with nitrogen to give ammonia, a potentially new "energy storage media". A second project examines new pathways from carbon dioxide (CO2, an industrial waste product) to hydrocarbons. Current methods for such chemical reactions are expensive; to potentially reduce the cost of fuel production from CO2 this research emphasizes the design of new catalysts. These new catalysts feature pairs of metals in a manner that resembles bulk metal catalysts. These particular geometries facilitate the bond making and bond breaking steps required for producing the fuels. Students working on this project gain hands-on experience on advanced chemical synthesis and catalyst evaluation. The young researchers are also trained to communicate scientific results to a broad audience. This training involves lectures as well as the production of videos aimed at high school students. The target audiences include those underserved by traditional educational venues and underrepresented in the STEM disciplines. As of 2018, 92% of the energy used by the transportation sector came from petroleum mining. The anticipated depletion of this resource, along with shifting environmental and national security concerns, motivates the development of fuels that are both derived from renewable resources and compatible with the nation’s existing energy infrastructure. In this project, supported by the Chemical Catalysis Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Neil Tomson of the University of Pennsylvania, investigates new catalysts to synthesize ammonia and alkanes. Although solar hydrogen is becoming increasingly available, methods for performing low-energy hydrogenations of small feedstock chemicals remain underdeveloped. Professor Tomson's research is targeting two processes that are likely to be critical for the future energy economy. The first process aims at dehydrogenation of ammonia. The second, but related process, aims to generate hydrocarbons from synthesis gas. The research draws inspiration from heterogeneous catalysis, especially those utilizing metallic surfaces. The new catalysts incorporate electronic and geometric flexibility, which may emulate key characteristics of metallic surfaces. In preliminary experiments, the new catalysts have been shown to stabilize a wide range of intermediates previously proposed for the Mittasch and Fischer-Tropsch catalysts. Finally, this project’s focus on mitigating the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels highlights a need for scientists of the future to be able to think creatively outside their immediate discipline. By reaching high school, undergraduate, and graduate students, including many from minority populations that are underrepresented in the STEM disciplines, the project endeavors to inspire the next generation of scientists, while aiding in the development of the metacognitive skill sets that are known to be critical to this cross-cutting creativity.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.