Electrochemical and photocatalytic studies of functional nanomaterials

上个世纪全球人口的爆炸性增长导致了对其可持续发展至关重要的各种行业的巨大增长。这最终导致了严重的挑战，包括能源短缺、环境污染和气候变化。政府间气候变化专门委员会的综合报告最近强调了快速气候变化的可怕后果。建立氢经济具有巨大的潜力，是从石油时代向新的、清洁和可持续的能源范式过渡的最明确和最全面的战略之一。然而，在真正实现氢经济之前，需要解决三个关键的技术障碍，包括氢气的产生、储存和应用。电解和光催化分解水为可持续制氢提供了最大的潜力；高效和稳定的电催化剂和光催化剂对这些过程至关重要。氢的储存是一个巨大的挑战，因为目前可用的储氢材料都不符合美国能源部制定的严格标准。此外，随着累积的人口增长对水资源造成越来越大的压力，对改进水处理技术的要求变得越来越重要。这项拟议的研究计划建立在我们的专业知识和我的研究小组目前正在开展的工作的基础上，目标是为废水修复和氢气生产创造高效的绿色技术，以及设计用于氢气存储的功能纳米材料。 先进的功能化纳米材料在科学上耐人寻味，在技术上也越来越关键。这项拟议的研究计划旨在促进我们对纳米结构电极/电解液界面的基本理解。特别是，我们将研究纳米材料的组成、尺寸和形貌对其电催化和光化学活性的影响，以及氢溢出的动力学。这项拟议的研究结果预计将对纳米电化学、科学和技术产生相当大的有益影响。这些研究将有助于在界面结构、组成和反应性之间建立牢固的相关性，这将有助于开发先进的清洁/绿色技术，以应对日益严峻的能源和环境挑战以及气候变化。此外，这项拟议的研究计划将在培养具有电化学、材料科学、环境和能源技术专业知识的高素质人才方面发挥关键作用，为采矿和纸浆造纸行业提供地区性资源。

The exploding global population over the last century has resulted in the tremendous growth of various industries that are vital for sustaining its development. This has culminated in serious challenges, including energy shortages, environmental pollution, and climate change. The dire consequences of rapid climate change have recently been stressed in the Synthesis Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The establishment of a hydrogen economy has great potential as one of the most clear and comprehensive strategies for transitioning from the oil era toward a new, clean, and sustainable energy paradigm. However, before a hydrogen economy may be truly realized, three key technical barriers need to be addressed, encompassing hydrogen generation, storage, and applications. Electrolysis and photocatalytic water splitting offer the greatest potential for sustainable hydrogen production; highly efficient and stable electrocatalysts and photocatalysts are essential to these processes. The storage of hydrogen is a significant challenge, as none of the currently available hydrogen storage materials meet the stringent criteria that has been established by the US Department of Energy. In addition, the requirement for improved water treatment technologies is becoming ever more critical as cumulative population growth places an increasing strain on water resources. This proposed research program builds on our expertise and the work that is currently being carried out in my research group, with the goal of creating efficient Green Technologies for wastewater remediation and hydrogen production, as well as the design of functional nanomaterials for hydrogen storage. Advanced functionalized nanomaterials are both scientifically intriguing and increasingly technologically critical. This proposed research program aims to advance our fundamental understanding of nanostructured electrode/electrolyte interfaces. In particular, we will investigate the effects of the compositions, dimensions and morphologies of nanomaterials in relation to their electrocatalytic and photochemical activities, as well as the kinetics of hydrogen spillover. The results of this proposed research are anticipated to have considerable beneficial implications for nanoelectrochemistry, science, and technology. These studies will assist in establishing firm correlations between interfacial structures, compositions, and reactivity, which will facilitate the development of advanced clean/green technologies to deal with increasingly critical energy and environmental challenges as well as climate change. In addition, this proposed research program will play a key role as a regional resource for the mining and pulp and paper industries in the training of highly qualified personnel with expertise in electrochemistry, materials science, environmental, and energy technologies.