I-Corps: Two-step water splitting method using an electrochemical Zinc/Zinc Oxide cycle to produce hydrogen

I-Corps：使用电化学锌/氧化锌循环生产氢气的两步水分解方法

• 批准号: 2405325
• 负责人: Eric Detsi
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: University of Pennsylvania
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-02-01 至 2025-01-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2405325&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Two; step; water; splitting

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of zero-emissions alternatives to fuel planes, trains, trucks, buses, ships, and off-road and cargo handling equipment. Currently, clean fuels, such as hydrogen or hydrogen-derived fuels, lack existing distribution and storage infrastructure creating major hurdles to adoption. The proposed technology uses on-board generation of hydrogen to provide a viable alternative to existing battery electric technology that cannot serve certain segments of the heavy-duty vehicle fleet due to weight or operating conditions. The goal is to provide zero emissions fuel independence for places that are currently reliant on expensive diesel and gasoline deliveries, and may be underserved by newer, cleaner fuel supply chains.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a two-step water electrolysis approach to produce hydrogen on-board a vehicle. The proposed technology is designed to provide a safer alternative to battery electric technology and solve one of the pressing challenges of using hydrogen as a transportation fuel, which is moving and storing hydrogen. In addition, the system has a total gravimetric energy density, including the fuel cell, two- to three-times that of commercially available lithium-based battery technologies. The proposed technology uses activated zinc (Zn) in the first step of the process that produces hydrogen gas and zinc oxide when in contact with water and does not require electricity. In step two, electricity is used to electrochemically convert the zinc oxide solid by-product back to activated zinc. Thisclosed-loop two-step water splitting process is referred to as an electrochemical zinc/zinc oxide cycle. The same activated zinc may be used to produce H2 on-site multiple times using many zinc/zinc oxide cycles, which makes it more cost-effective than current solutions. The activated zinc may be used to produce clean H2 off-grid, off-peak, or on-board a vehicle.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.

该I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发燃料飞机，火车，卡车，公共汽车，船只以及越野和货运设备的零排放替代品。当前，干净的燃料（例如氢或氢源燃料）缺乏现有的分销和存储基础设施，从而为采用而产生了重大障碍。拟议中的技术使用船上生成的氢为现有电池电力技术提供了可行的替代方案，由于重量或操作条件，无法为重型车队的某些部分服务。 目的是为目前依赖昂贵的柴油和汽油交付的地方提供零排放燃料独立性，并且可能因新的，更清洁的燃油供应链而服务不足。这项I-Corps项目基于开发两步水电解方法，以生产车载氢的氢气。 该提出的技术旨在为电池电力技术提供更安全的替代品，并解决使用氢用作运输燃料的紧迫挑战之一，该燃料正在移动和储存氢。 此外，该系统具有总重量能密度，包括燃料电池，两到三倍的基于锂的电池技术。 所提出的技术在与水接触时会产生氢气和氧化锌的过程的第一步中使用活化的锌（Zn），并且不需要电。 在第二步中，电力用于电化学将氧化锌固体副产品转换回活化的锌。 此插入的环二步分裂过程称为电化学锌/氧化锌循环。相同的活化锌可用于使用许多锌/锌氧化物循环多次生产H2，这使其比当前溶液更具成本效益。激活的锌可用于在车载上产生干净的H2离网，非高峰或车载。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并且使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准，被认为值得通过评估来获得支持。