Supported catalysts for sustainable water oxidation: completing the cycle for generation of hydrogen from water

不能低估对可再生、无污染能源的需求。只有太阳才能提供足够的能量来满足当前和可预见的未来更大的能源需求，但由于太阳能的流动性，以及加拿大最大的能源需求在冬季的事实，开发某种类型的“太阳能燃料”是必不可少的。要做到这一点，唯一可持续、现实的选择是将水分离为氢和氧。已经有了大量的基础设施来支持氢气作为燃料：使用氢气作为燃料的燃料电池汽车是全球现实，世界上大多数汽车公司都在制造氢气汽车。丰田和本田都宣布将在2015年向市场投放氢气汽车。然而，缺乏实质性的氢燃料基础设施，以及公众对氢的安全性的看法存在困难，这些都是令人严重关切的问题。因此，从水中按需生产氢气的能力将产生巨大的影响。在水分解反应中，氢气的生成在热力学上是容易的，但伴随而来的氧气的生成仍然是一个巨大的挑战。这个反应是必不可少的，否则就需要牺牲添加剂，通过与剩余的1/2氧当量反应来平衡方程式。这显然是不可持续的，因此在水氧化方面投入了大量的工作。研究工作大致分为均相催化剂和多相催化剂，每种催化剂都有自己的缺点。就负载型催化剂而言，在界面上所做的工作非常少，这可能是因为催化剂(和载体的连接物)必须暴露在恶劣的环境中。这项拟议的工作建立在三个PI的实验室最近的一份报告基础上，其中开发了一种独特的连接方法，这种方法非常健壮。该团队由合成、催化、表面分析、无机光谱、电化学和动力学研究人员组成。我们的工业合作伙伴Altranex是一家总部位于金斯顿的替代能源公司。他们将在动力学、建模和电化学方面提供相当多的专业知识。

The need for renewable, non-polluting sources of energy cannot be understated. Only the sun provides sufficient energy volume to meet current and predictably greater future energy needs, but due to the fluxional nature of solar energy, and the fact that Canada's greatest energy needs are in the winter, the development of some type of "solar fuel" is essential. The only sustainable, realistic option for this is to split water into hydrogen an oxygen. There is already significant infrastructure in place to support hydrogen as fuel: fuel-cell vehicles which use hydrogen as fuel are a global reality and most of the world's automotive companies are building hydrogen cars. Toyota and Honda have both announced that they will put a hydrogen car on the market in 2015. However, the lack of a substantive hydrogen fuelling infrastructure and the difficulties with public perception of the safety of hydrogen are significant concerns. Thus the ability to produce hydrogen on demand from water would have a huge impact. In the water splitting reaction, the generation of hydrogen is thermodynamically easy, however the concomitant production of oxygen remains a significant challenge. This reaction is essential, otherwise a sacrificial additive is needed to balance the equation by reacting with the 1/2 oxygen equivalent that is left over. This is clearly not sustainable, and thus there is significant work being put into water oxidation. Research efforts are broadly classified into homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts, each with their own drawbacks. Remarkably little work has been done at the interface in terms of SUPPORTED catalysts, likely because of the harsh environment to which the catalyst (and linker to the support) must be exposed. The proposed work builds on a recent report from the labs of three of the PIs, in which a unique method of attachment that is incredibly robust has been developed. The team is comprised of synthesis, catalysis, surface analysis, inorganic spectroscopy, electrochemistry and kinetics researchers. Our industrial partner ALTRANEX is a Kingston-based company in the alternative energy sector. They will provide considerable expertise in kinetics, modelling and electrochemistry.