CAS: Promoting Selective CO2 Electroreduction by Active Site Engineering

在化学系化学催化项目的支持下，约翰霍普金斯大学的Anthony Shoji Hall博士正在研究提高催化剂性能的方法，以使可再生能源能够以化学键的形式储存。储能设备对于遏制灾难性的气候变化非常重要。然而，来自风能和太阳能的可再生电力是间歇性的，这意味着这些能量必须储存起来，以便在夜间或无风时使用。将CO2电催化还原为化学燃料是储存可再生电力的潜在策略。当材料的结构改变时，催化剂通常表现出性能的变化。拟议的研究将使用实验方法来了解材料的结构如何影响其作为催化剂的性能。霍尔博士的实验室还积极参与市中心巴尔的摩高中的外展活动。该活动将让一名少数民族女高中生在自己的实验室学习可再生能源科学。在化学系化学催化项目的支持下，约翰霍普金斯大学的Anthony Shoji Hall博士正在研究电化学CO2还原的纳米结构材料的结构-性能关系。纳米材料表现出广泛的位置分布-如边缘，角落和梯田-可以表现出不同的反应性。该提案的重点是通过用惰性金属氧化物涂覆缺陷位点或平台位点来制备具有明确定义的活性位点群体的催化剂;潜在地允许实验者明确地将催化剂结构与性质联系起来。电化学动力学测量和表面增强原位红外吸收光谱（SEIRAS）将被用来询问具有明确的活性位点结构的催化剂的反应机理。从这些研究中获得的知识将用于开发促进更有效的催化途径的材料。该奖项反映了NSF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。

With the support of the Chemical Catalysis program in the Division of Chemistry, Dr. Anthony Shoji Hall at Johns Hopkins University is studying methods to improve the performance of catalysts to enable storing renewable energy in the form of chemical bonds. Energy storage devices are important for curbing catastrophic climate change. However, renewable electricity from wind and solar is intermittent, which means that this energy must be stored for use at night or when the wind is not blowing. The electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to chemical fuels is a potential strategy for storing renewable electricity. Catalysts usually exhibit variations in performance when the structure of the material is changed. The proposed study will use experimental methods to understand how the structure of the material influences its performance as a catalyst. Dr. Hall's laboratory also actively engages in outreach at inner city Baltimore high schools. This activity will allow a female minority high school student to study in his laboratory to learn about renewable energy science.With the support of the Chemical Catalysis program in the Division of Chemistry, Dr. Anthony Shoji Hall at Johns Hopkins University is studying the structure-property relationships of nano-structured materials for electrochemical CO2 reduction. Nanomaterials exhibit a broad distribution of sites – such as edges, corners, and terraces – which can exhibit different reactivity. This proposal focuses on preparing catalysts with well-defined populations of active sites by coating defect sites or terrace sites with inert metal oxides; potentially allowing the experimentalist to unambiguously connect catalyst structure to property. Electrochemical kinetic measurements and surface enhanced in-situ infrared absorption spectroscopy (SEIRAS) will be used to interrogate the reaction mechanism of catalysts with well-defined active site structures. Knowledge obtained from these studies will be used to develop materials that promote more efficient catalytic pathways.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.