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

对可再生、无污染能源的需求不能低估。只有太阳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是在冬季，因此开发某种类型的“太阳能燃料”是必不可少的。唯一可持续的、现实的选择是将水分解成氢和氧。已经有重要的基础设施支持氢作为燃料：使用氢作为燃料的燃料电池汽车是全球性的现实，世界上大多数汽车公司都在制造氢汽车。丰田和本田都宣布他们将在2015年推出氢动力汽车。然而，缺乏实质性的氢燃料基础设施以及公众对氢安全性的认识存在困难是重大关切。因此，从水中按需生产氢气的能力将产生巨大的影响。在水裂解反应中，氢气的产生在化学上是容易的，然而伴随的氧气的产生仍然是一个重大的挑战。该反应是必不可少的，否则需要牺牲添加剂通过与剩余的1/2氧当量反应来平衡该方程。这显然是不可持续的，因此有大量的工作正在投入水氧化。研究工作大致分为均相和非均相催化剂，每种都有自己的缺点。在界面处进行的关于交联催化剂的工作非常少，这可能是因为催化剂（和连接到载体的连接剂）必须暴露于苛刻的环境。拟议的工作建立在三个PI实验室最近的一份报告的基础上，其中开发了一种独特的连接方法，这种方法非常强大。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是一家位于金斯敦的替代能源公司。他们将提供动力学、建模和电化学方面的大量专门知识。

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.