I-Corps: Two-step water splitting method using an electrochemical Zinc/Zinc Oxide cycle to produce hydrogen

这个I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发零排放替代燃料飞机，火车，卡车，公共汽车，船舶以及越野和货物装卸设备。目前，氢或氢衍生燃料等清洁燃料缺乏现有的分配和储存基础设施，这对采用造成了重大障碍。拟议的技术使用车载氢气发电，为现有的电池电动技术提供可行的替代方案，由于重量或操作条件，现有的电池电动技术无法为重型车辆车队的某些部分提供服务。 我们的目标是为那些目前依赖昂贵的柴油和汽油供应的地方提供零排放的燃料独立性，并且可能无法得到更新，更清洁的燃料供应链的服务。这个I-Corps项目基于两步水电解方法的开发，以在车辆上生产氢气。 该技术旨在为电池电动技术提供更安全的替代方案，并解决使用氢气作为运输燃料的紧迫挑战之一，即运输和储存氢气。 此外，该系统的总重量能量密度（包括燃料电池）是市售锂电池技术的两到三倍。 该技术在工艺的第一步使用活性锌（Zn），当与水接触时产生氢气和氧化锌，并且不需要电力。 在第二步中，用电将氧化锌固体副产物电化学转化回活性锌。 这种闭环两步水分解过程被称为电化学锌/氧化锌循环。相同的活化锌可以使用许多锌/氧化锌循环多次用于现场生产H2，这使得它比当前的解决方案更具成本效益。活化的锌可用于生产清洁的H2离网，非高峰，或在车上的车辆。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of zero-emissions alternatives to fuel planes, trains, trucks, buses, ships, and off-road and cargo handling equipment. Currently, clean fuels, such as hydrogen or hydrogen-derived fuels, lack existing distribution and storage infrastructure creating major hurdles to adoption. The proposed technology uses on-board generation of hydrogen to provide a viable alternative to existing battery electric technology that cannot serve certain segments of the heavy-duty vehicle fleet due to weight or operating conditions. The goal is to provide zero emissions fuel independence for places that are currently reliant on expensive diesel and gasoline deliveries, and may be underserved by newer, cleaner fuel supply chains.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a two-step water electrolysis approach to produce hydrogen on-board a vehicle. The proposed technology is designed to provide a safer alternative to battery electric technology and solve one of the pressing challenges of using hydrogen as a transportation fuel, which is moving and storing hydrogen. In addition, the system has a total gravimetric energy density, including the fuel cell, two- to three-times that of commercially available lithium-based battery technologies. The proposed technology uses activated zinc (Zn) in the first step of the process that produces hydrogen gas and zinc oxide when in contact with water and does not require electricity. In step two, electricity is used to electrochemically convert the zinc oxide solid by-product back to activated zinc. Thisclosed-loop two-step water splitting process is referred to as an electrochemical zinc/zinc oxide cycle. The same activated zinc may be used to produce H2 on-site multiple times using many zinc/zinc oxide cycles, which makes it more cost-effective than current solutions. The activated zinc may be used to produce clean H2 off-grid, off-peak, or on-board a vehicle.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.