Electrocatalysis on model systems with well-defined composition and crystallographic surface structures

多年来，全球能源消费持续增长，预计未来将有增无减。能源转换和存储部门的创新对于帮助满足这些全球能源需求和减少对化石燃料及其伴随的温室气体排放的依赖至关重要。在减少这种依赖的许多努力中，一个有希望的战略是利用自然丰富的资源，如水力发电，以及间歇性的可再生能源供应，如风能发电，为化学品和燃料的电化学合成提供动力。将化学能有效地转化为多种电能的能源技术的发展也同样重要。开发和部署这些技术将需要应用各种领域的知识、概念和工具，包括材料科学、物理、化学(电化学)，最值得注意的是多相电催化，因为这些反应发生在不同相之间的界面上。在接下来的五年里，我打算继续并扩大我的高性能材料的研究计划，因为它们与能源转换和能量储存领域的应用有关。目前的发现奖申请将资助一项涉及电催化和电极材料基础方面的研究计划，并侧重于基础科学。更具体地说，它试图了解电极材料和反应中的结构-性质关系，这是环境友好型能源应用的核心。我们研究团队的目标是确定给定反应中的活性部位--例如不同的面和边缘、角和缺陷部位。这些知识随后将被用于指导纳米结构催化剂的开发，该催化剂将最大限度地提高活性中心的浓度，从而最大限度地提高现实生活中能量转换系统的电流密度和性能。为了实现这一目标，我们团队的方法利用高度通用的制造工艺来制备具有受控成分和晶体表面取向的模型表面，然后对模型表面进行广泛的表面和电化学表征以及对化合物的电催化性能进行评估。在接下来的五年里，我们的短期目标是专注于碱性聚合物电解质燃料电池和无碳燃料的电化学反应的三个核心反应：碱性介质中的氢氧化反应，NH3氧化为N2，以及N2转化为NH3。每年共有三名博士和两名本科生接受电催化各方面的培训，包括材料制备和表征以及电化学科学。他们将开发与加拿大工业和学术界相关的知识和技能。

Global energy consumption has increased continuously over the years and is expected to grow unabated in the future. Innovation in the energy conversion and storage sectors are critical to help meet these global energy demands and reduce dependency on fossil fuels, with its concomitant greenhouse gas emissions. Among the many efforts to decrease this dependency, a promising strategy is to power the electrochemical synthesis of chemicals and fuels from naturally abundant resources using green electricity such as hydroelectricity, as well as an intermittent renewable energy supply, such as wind-derived electricity. The development of energy technologies which efficiently convert chemical energy into versatile electrical energy is equally important. Developing and deploying these technologies will require the application of knowledge, concepts and tools from a variety of fields including materials science, physics, chemistry (electrochemistry) and most notably, heterogeneous electrocatalysis, since these reactions occur at the interface between different phases. Over the next five years, I intend to pursue and expand my research program on high- performance materials as they pertain to applications in the fields of energy conversion and energy storage. The present Discovery grant application will fund a research program involving basic aspects of electrocatalysis and electrode materials and focused on fundamental science. More specifically; it seeks to gain an understanding of structure-property relationships in electrode materials and reactions, which are central to environmentally-friendly energy applications. Our research team's goal is to identify active sites within a given reaction - such as different facets and edge, corner, and defective sites. This knowledge will subsequently be used to guide development of nanostructured catalysts that will maximize the concentration of active sites, and thus the current density and performance of real-life energy conversion systems. To achieve this goal, our team's approach leverages highly versatile fabrication processes to prepare model surfaces with controlled compositions and crystallographic surface orientations, which are then subjected to extensive surface and electrochemical characterization as well as evaluations of the compounds' electrocatalytic performances. Over the next five years, our short-term objective is to focus on three reactions which are central to alkaline polymer electrolyte fuel cells and the electrochemistry of carbon-free-fuels: the hydrogen oxidation reaction in alkaline media, the oxidation of NH3 to N2, and the conversion of N2 to NH3. Each year, a total of three PhD and two undergraduate students will be trained in all aspects of electrocatalysis, including material preparation and characterization, and electrochemical science. They will develop knowledge and skills relevant to Canadian industry as well as academia.