CAS: Enhanced Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Production with Polymer-Supported [2Fe-2S] Clusters

在美国国家科学基金会化学部化学催化计划的支持下，由亚利桑那大学的Dennis Lichtenberger、Jeffrey Pyun和Richard Glass教授领导的研究小组正在开发利用电力从水中生产氢气的新方法。这项研究与美国经济相关，因为氢气被用于制造许多工业产品，包括化肥和燃料。该团队正在开发催化剂，以加快产品的形成，值得注意的是，该团队制造的催化剂是由富含地球的铁和硫制成的。自然界中也发现了类似的铁硫催化剂，但它们很脆弱。新的催化剂经过特殊聚合物的改性后，非常坚固。这项研究的目标是了解聚合物如何提高催化剂的反应性，并优化系统的性能，以便在更短的时间内生产更多的燃料。一个具体的项目涉及改变聚合物的结构和它附着在催化剂上的方式。该奖项还为学生提供了催化和能源科学领域的实践经验。一旦参与了协作项目，学生们就会接触到不同的学科和技术文化，这使他们成为更好的领导者。该项目的一个组成部分是向社区进行宣传，重点是STEM和K-12阶段的学生和教师中的妇女。在美国国家科学基金会化学部化学催化(CAT)项目的支持下，由亚利桑那大学的Dennis Lichtenberger、Jeffrey Pyun和Richard Glass教授领导的研究小组正在开发用于生产氢气(H2)的新型催化剂。这项研究承诺使用太阳能和风能等间歇性能源为清洁和可持续的能源经济做出贡献，因为这些来源产生的电力可以直接存储在氢的两电子化学键中。同样的能量可以很容易地通过燃烧氢气或通过燃料电池将能量转化为电能来回收，这两种方法都将氢气循环回水。通常，将电力和水转化为氢气的最有效材料是铂和其他昂贵的金属，这些金属太稀有，无法在广泛的能源经济中大规模使用。自然界已经用氢酶解决了这个问题，氢酶的特点是将硫化铁嵌入酶的结构中，以高效地产生氢。在大自然的启发下，亚利桑那大学的研究小组创造了嵌入到金属聚合物中的第一代铁和硫系统，产生氢气的速度比天然酶快25倍，效率接近铂。这项研究为学生为支持美国经济的技术劳动力做好准备。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With support from the Chemical Catalysis Program of the Division of Chemistry at the National Science Foundation, the research team headed by Professors Dennis Lichtenberger, Jeffrey Pyun, and Richard Glass at the University of Arizona are developing new approaches for producing hydrogen gas from water using electricity. This research is relevant to the U.S. economy because hydrogen gas is used to make many industrial products, including fertilizers and fuels. The team is developing catalysts to speed up the product formation and notably, the catalysts made by this team are made of earth-abundant iron and sulfur. Similar iron-sulfur catalysts are found in nature, but they are fragile. The new catalysts, after being modified with special polymers, are rugged. The goal of this research is to learn how the polymer enhances the catalyst reactivity and to optimize the system's performance so more fuel is produced in less time. One specific project involves changing the structure of the polymer and the way it is attached to the catalyst. This award also provides students with hands-on experience in the areas of catalysis and energy science. Once engaged in a collaborative project, the students are exposed to a variety of disciplines and technical cultures, which makes them better leaders. An integral part of the project is outreach to the community with emphasis on women in STEM and K-12 students and teachers. With support from the Chemical Catalysis (CAT) Program in NSF's Division of Chemistry, the research team headed by Professors Dennis Lichtenberger, Jeffrey Pyun, and Richard Glass at The University of Arizona are developing new catalysts for the production of hydrogen (H2). The research promises to contribute to a clean and sustainable energy economy using intermittent energy sources such as solar and wind as the electricity generated from these sources can be directly stored in the two-electron chemical bond of H2. This same energy can be easily recovered by burning the hydrogen or by converting the energy back to electricity with a fuel cell, both of which cycle the hydrogen back to water. Typically, the most effective materials for converting electricity and water to hydrogen are platinum and other expensive metals that are too rare to employ on a large scale for a broad energy economy. Nature has solved this problem with hydrogenase enzymes, which feature iron sulfides embedded in the structure of the enzyme to efficiently produce hydrogen. With this inspiration from nature, the first-generation system of iron and sulfur embedded in a metallopolymer created by the team at the University of Arizona produces hydrogen 25 times faster than the natural enzyme and approaches platinum in efficiency. The research prepares students for the technical workforce that will support the U.S. economy.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.