New Materials and Approaches for Energy Conversion and Storage

拟议的研究计划的范围是开发基于新型碳材料，特别是氮掺杂碳（NDC）的能量转换和储存的新方法。 长期和短期目标 长期目标是为光伏太阳能转换、先进电池和燃料电池等能源应用开发高效的创新解决方案。短期目标是： (1)开发和优化基于氮掺杂碳（NDC）作为光伏材料的廉价、耐用和高效的全碳太阳能电池。 (2)开发用于先进金属离子电池的高效和稳定的NDC基电极。 (3)开发新型NDC基电催化剂，用于工业上重要的氧还原和甲醇氧化反应，用于金属-空气电池和燃料电池。 科学方法 (1)最近，我们证明了NDC可以具有显著的光伏特性，并建立了工作的固态太阳能电池原型。我们的努力将旨在改善NDC的半导体和光伏特性，以及微调NDC的电子和传输特性，以最大限度地提高电池效率。 (2)NDC对金属离子如Li+和Na+的插层能力的改善可以由氮诱导的缺陷的存在引起，与石墨相比，氮诱导的缺陷导致NDC的基面变形。这可能导致开发用于先进电池的新的高效材料。本文的研究将在两个方向上取得进展，（i）在不同条件下获得的NDC的系统结构表征和优化，以及（ii）插层过程的动力学和机理的广泛研究。 (3)NDC可以是各种类型的电催化剂，由于其鲁棒性，高电导率，非常高的机械和电化学稳定性，重量轻等非常重要但具有挑战性的电催化过程之一是氧还原反应，这是燃料电池和金属-空气电池中有效发电的关键。用于氧还原的氮化碳催化剂由于其替代昂贵的Pt基催化剂的潜力而成为非常迅速发展的主题。这种材料的催化活性直接取决于特定氮键合位点的丰度，并且目前受到此时可用材料中相对低的氮含量的限制。我们已经成功地开发了富氮NDC，因此我们期望这些材料在氧还原反应中显示出优异的催化性能。此外，NDC将用作用于束缚在其他重要反应（例如甲醇氧化）中使用的各种催化活性部分的底物。 作品的新奇性和预期意义 该研究具有高度创新性，针对与能源生产和使用相关的现代科学技术的几个非常重要和当前的问题。这项工作将导致基于新材料和方法的新型太阳能电池，电池和燃料电池的开发。太阳能转换，特别是能源生产和储存对加拿大经济非常重要，从环境、经济和社会的角度来看，已被确定为可持续发展所必需的新技术。能源储存技术已被特别确认为加拿大能源管理能力中一个特别欠发达的组成部分，需要进行重大的研究和开发工作，特别是通过基础研究开发新的转型方法。

The scope of the proposed research program is to develop new approaches to energy conversion and storage based on novel carbon materials and in particular nitrogen-doped carbon (NDC). Long- and Short-Term Objectives The long-term objective is to develop efficient innovative solutions for energy applications, such as photovoltaic solar energy conversion, advanced batteries and fuel cells. The short-term objectives are: (1) Development and optimization of cheap, robust and efficient all-carbon solar cells based on nitrogen-doped carbon (NDC) as photovoltaic material. (2) Development of efficient and stable NDC based electrodes to be used in advanced metal-ion batteries. (3) Development of novel NDC-based electrocatalysts for industrially important reactions of oxygen reduction and methanol oxidation for use in metal-air batteries and fuel cells. Scientific Approach (1) Recently we showed that NDC can possess pronounced photovoltaic properties and built working solid-state solar cell prototypes. Our efforts will be aimed at improving the semiconducting and photovoltaic properties of NDC, as well as fine-tuning of the electronic and transport properties of NDC to maximize the cell efficiency. (2) The improvements in the intercalation ability of NDC towards metal ions such as Li+ and Na+ can result from the presence of nitrogen-induced defects that result in distortion of the basal planes of NDC as compared to graphite. This can lead to development of new efficient materials for advanced batteries. The research here will progress in two directions, (i) systematic structural characterization and optimization of NDC obtained under different conditions and (ii) extensive studies of the kinetics and mechanism of intercalation processes. (3) NDC can be an excellent substrate for various types of electrocatalysts due to its robustness, high electrical conductivity, very high mechanical and electrochemical stability, light weight, etc. One of very important but challenging electrocatalytic processes is oxygen reduction reaction, which is crucial for efficient energy generation in fuel cells and metal-air batteries. Nitrogenated carbon catalysts for oxygen reduction are a very rapidly developing topic due to their potential to replace expensive Pt-based catalysts. The catalytic activity of such materials directly depends on the abundance of specific nitrogen bonding sites and is currently limited by relatively low nitrogen content in the materials available at this time. We have been successful in developing nitrogen-rich NDC, and therefore we expect that these materials will show excellent catalytic properties in oxygen reduction reaction. Furthermore, NDC will be used as substrate for tethering various catalytically active moieties used in other significant reactions, such as methanol oxidation. Novelty and Expected Significance of the Work The proposed research is highly innovative and targets several very important and current problems of modern science and technology related to energy generation and usage. The work will result in development of new types of solar cells, batteries and fuel cells based on novel materials and approaches. Solar energy conversion and especially energy generation and storage are very important for the Canadian economy and have been identified as new technologies essential for its sustainable development from an environmental, economic and social standpoint. The energy storage technologies have been specifically recognized is a particularly underdeveloped component of Canada’s energy-management capabilities that requires major research and development efforts and specifically development of new transformational approaches through fundamental research.