The Development of Selective and Robust Ammonia Oxidation Electrocatalysts

该提案汇集了一个国际专家团队，通过开发用于氨氧化反应（AOR）的过渡金属电催化剂，探索将氨用作无碳燃料。氨由于其高氢含量和能量密度，易于和可扩展的存储和运输以及零碳排放而具有成为理想的能量载体的潜力。然而，目前广泛使用NH3作为燃料的瓶颈是开发用于AOR的高效和稳健的催化剂。我们的国际团队拥有解决这一瓶颈的综合技能，包括新分子催化剂的合成和表征，电化学研究，使用先进的光谱技术表征关键物种的专业知识，以及更好地理解AOR途径的理论计算。我们将研究有前途的分子催化剂的非均相制备，以探索可以大规模应用的AOR系统。这项新的合作将解决氨作为无碳燃料的关键挑战，并且为AOR开发高效和耐用的催化剂可能会转移到直接氨燃料电池，甚至从废水中去除氨。此外，这一领域的创新将促进绿色氨合成技术的发展，这对长期利用氨作为无碳燃料至关重要，从而推动加拿大在可再生能源方面的研究创新。

This proposal brings together an international team of experts to explore the use of ammonia as a carbon-free fuel via the development of transition metal electrocatalysts for the ammonia oxidation reaction (AOR). Ammonia has the potential to be an ideal energy carrier due to its' high hydrogen content and energy density, facile and scalable storage and transportation, and zero-carbon emission. However, the current bottleneck in the widespread use of NH3 as a fuel is the development of efficient and robust catalysts for the AOR. Our international team has the combined skill set to tackle this bottleneck, including expertise in the synthesis and characterization of new molecular catalysts, electrochemical studies, characterization of key species using advanced spectroscopic techniques, and theoretical calculations to better understand the AOR pathway. We will investigate heterogeneous preparations of promising molecular catalysts to explore AOR systems that can be applied at scale. This new collaboration will address a critical challenge in the utilization of ammonia as a carbon-free fuel, and the development of efficient and robust catalysts for the AOR may be transferable to the direct ammonia fuel cell, and even the removal of ammonia from wastewater. In addition, innovation in this area will stimulate the development of green ammonia synthesis technology, which is critical to the long-term utilization of ammonia as a carbon-free fuel, thereby furthering Canadian research innovation in renewable energies.