Clean Energy

人为碳排放造成的气候变化是当今人类面临的最紧迫的挑战之一。洪水、反复无常的极端天气条件以及严重的干旱不仅影响到人口稠密的沿海地区，也影响到内陆拥有大量基础设施的城市。就在刚刚过去的这个冬天，德克萨斯州的极端天气条件，加上能源储存不足和脆弱的传统发电设施，导致该州相当大一部分地区数天没有电力、供暖和清洁水。清洁能源是建立能源安全和减少社会对化石燃料依赖的关键，这两项都是为了防止进一步的破坏性影响，否则将通过一切照旧的气候变化途径实现。电化学设备是有前途的清洁能源储存和按需供电的技术，当地零排放。聚合物电解质膜(PEM)燃料电池和电解槽目前已经商业化，但其高昂的成本阻碍了它们的广泛应用。降低PEM燃料电池和电解槽的成本取决于为超低负荷量身定做的新催化剂层的开发，以及反应物和产品运输的优化。如果没有这一关键能力来告知和验证具有准确形态表征的新催化剂的设计，燃料电池和电解槽将受限于当前的性能和成本，从而阻碍了广泛采用。为了降低成本，新材料和界面设计必须了解多孔材料和催化剂层，特别是在原始和降解条件下。由于电化学转化技术的不透明性，传统显微镜无法直接观察纳米复合材料的三维结构。Bazylak教授通过2D OPANDO成像的特殊应用，在推进质子交换膜燃料电池和水电解器方面开展了国际公认的工作。她将利用她过去的专业知识，将她的研究带入一个新的方向，通过空间解析燃料电池、水电解槽和二氧化碳电解槽的电化学性能、材料特性和行为，并在3D中开发更实惠、更持久和更紧凑的电化学能量转换设备，以供广泛采用。

Climate change due to anthropogenic carbon emissions is one of the most pressing challenges facing humanity today. Floods, erratic and extreme weather conditions, and severe droughts affect not only highly populated coastal regions, but also municipalities with significant infrastructure far inland. As recently as this past winter, extreme weather conditions in Texas combined with insufficient energy storage and vulnerable conventional power generation facilities left a significant portion of the state without power, heat, and clean water for days. Clean energy is vitally needed to build energy security as well as reduce society's reliance on fossil fuels, both of which are needed to prevent further devastating impacts that would otherwise be realized with a business-as-usual pathway for climate change.Electrochemical devices are promising technologies for clean energy storage and on-demand electricity with zero local emissions. Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells and electrolyzers are currently commercially available; however, their high costs are prohibitive for widespread adoption. Decreasing the cost of PEM fuel cells and electrolyzers is contingent upon the development of new catalyst layers tailored for ultra-low loadings and optimized reactant and product transport. Without this key ability to inform and validate the design of new catalysts with accurate morphological characterizations, fuel cells and electrolyzers will be limited to current performances and costs that prohibit widespread adoption. To reduce costs, new material and interface designs must be informed by an understanding of the porous materials and catalyst layers, particularly in pristine and degraded conditions. Due to the opaque nature of electrochemical conversion technologies, traditional microscopy does not provide the capability to directly observe the 3D structure of nanoscale composite materials. Prof. Bazylak has developed internationally recognized work in advancing PEM fuel cells and water electrolyzers through the particular application of 2D operando imaging. She will leverage her past expertise and take her research in a new direction by spatially resolving the electrochemical performance, materials characteristics and behaviour for fuel cells, water electrolyzers, and carbon dioxide electrolyzers operando and in 3D to develop more affordable, longer lasting, and more compact electrochemical energy conversion devices for widespread adoption.