Maximizing efficiency in solar water splitting by engineering interfaces in hybrid photo-catalysts

通过混合光催化剂中的工程界面最大限度地提高太阳能水分解效率

基本信息

批准号：
1803991
负责人：
Suljo Linic
金额：
$ 33万
依托单位：
Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2018
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2018-09-01 至 2022-08-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1803991&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Maximizing efficiency solar water splitting

项目摘要

Photocatalytic splitting of water using sunlight to create abundant and inexpensive hydrogen fuel is an important technical challenge for scientists and engineers. This technology has impact for the production of "solar fuels" that uses the resource of solar energy to convert water or carbon dioxide into higher valued chemicals and fuels with a lower environmental impact. It is becoming increasingly recognized that high efficiency solar water splitting processes will require multi-component, multi-functional photo-catalytic systems. These photocatalysts contain a semiconductor light absorber, a material that stabilizes the light absorber under the reactions conditions (insulators are often used for this function) and attached metal electrocatalysts that perform chemical transformations. In this project, fundamental understanding will result on how different components of these multi-functional photo-catalysts impact the performance of these systems. Ultimately, the knowledge will be used to form the foundation for developing predictive structure-performance relationships that would guide the design of the multi-component photocatalysts for efficient solar water splitting. The project also emphasizes a wide array of educational activities that build upon the Principal Investigator's (PI) research to promote engagement of students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The project will result in new curriculum content for a massive open online course (MOOC) emphasizing sustainable energy topics. These activities include outreach to high school and undergraduate students from underrepresented groups, as well as strategies aimed at improving the utilization of the World Wide Web in reaching students and the general public. This project will focus on fundamental understanding about the influence of insulating protective layers on the overall performance of metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) photocatalyst system for solar water splitting. The aim of the project is to identify the fundamental characteristics of the protective layers that impact the performance and tune these characteristics to design MIS photocatalyst with minimal junction losses. The project has two central objectives: 1) Developing a physically transparent model that will capture the essential features of the MIS photocatalyst systems, 2) Guided by the model, design MIS photocatalysts with optimal geometric characteristics. The PI will focus on some of the most promising semiconductors (Si, GaAs, and Cu2O) and their coupling to oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts (Ni, Ru, and Ir) through the insulating layers (HfO2 and Al2O3). The project will use characterization techniques that include atomistic characterization of the geometric structure of the MIS photocatalysts, analysis of electronic and optical properties of the multicomponent systems as well as rigorous measurements to assess the device-level performance.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

利用阳光光催化分解水来产生丰富且廉价的氢燃料，对科学家和工程师来说是一个重要的技术挑战。这项技术对“太阳能燃料”的生产产生了影响，即利用太阳能资源将水或二氧化碳转化为更高价值的化学品和燃料，同时对环境影响较小。人们越来越认识到，高效太阳能水分解过程将需要多组件、多功能光催化系统。这些光催化剂包含半导体光吸收剂、一种在反应条件下稳定光吸收剂的材料（绝缘体通常用于此功能）以及执行化学转化的附加金属电催化剂。在该项目中，将对这些多功能光催化剂的不同成分如何影响这些系统的性能产生基本的了解。最终，这些知识将被用来为开发预测结构-性能关系奠定基础，从而指导高效太阳能水分解的多组分光催化剂的设计。该项目还强调以首席研究员 (PI) 研究为基础的一系列教育活动，以促进学生对科学、技术、工程和数学 (STEM) 学科的参与。该项目将为强调可持续能源主题的大规模开放在线课程（MOOC）带来新的课程内容。这些活动包括针对代表性不足群体的高中生和本科生的外展活动，以及旨在提高万维网在接触学生和公众方面的利用率的策略。该项目将重点从根本上了解绝缘保护层对太阳能水分解金属-绝缘体-半导体（MIS）光催化剂系统整体性能的影响。该项目的目的是确定影响性能的保护层的基本特性，并调整这些特性以设计具有最小结损耗的 MIS 光催化剂。该项目有两个中心目标：1) 开发一个物理透明的模型，以捕捉 MIS 光催化剂系统的基本特征，2) 在模型的指导下，设计具有最佳几何特性的 MIS 光催化剂。 PI 将重点关注一些最有前途的半导体（Si、GaAs 和 Cu2O）及其通过绝缘层（HfO2 和 Al2O3）与析氧反应 (OER) 电催化剂（Ni、Ru 和 Ir）的耦合。该项目将使用表征技术，包括 MIS 光催化剂几何结构的原子表征、多组分系统的电子和光学特性分析以及评估设备级性能的严格测量。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并具有通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。