Smart Microgel-Based Membranes for Enhanced Catalysis and Electrochemical Cells - From Understanding Structure to Custom-Designed Devices.

用于增强催化和电化学电池的智能微凝胶膜 - 从了解结构到定制设计的设备。

• 批准号: 505656154
• 负责人: Professor Dr. Thomas Hellweg
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Laboratoire Charles Coulomb (UMR 5221 CNRS-UM2)
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 资助国家: 德国
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/505656154?language=en
• 关键词: Smart; Microgel; Based; Membranes; Enhanced

Catalysis, energy storage and conversion are at present of paramount societal relevance. Unfortunately, electrochemical potentials are basically known since one century and cannot be significantly enhanced. Therefore, the possibility to increase storage capacity and current flux is only possible by minimizing cells. This involves the development of smart membranes having thicknesses in the nanoscale. Moreover, such membranes should have smart properties allowing to control ion flux by external stimuli and having intrinsic safety properties e.g. self regulation of ion flux (current) upon overheating. Similar aspects apply to catalysis by nanoparticles (NP), which is highly effective due to NPs great specific surface. Anyhow, activity of NPs is difficult to control and the bare particles are difficult to separate from the product. In both contexts of smart membranes, the German partner has recently developed a way to cross-link microgels into macroscopic free-standing membranes which were found to exhibit resistance controlled by temperature. The microgels are made by copolymerisation of classical acrylamides and of photo- or electron beam-crosslinkable comonomers. However, at present many details of the local structure of these microgels are unknown, in particular how the comonomers (resp. nanoparticles) are spatially distributed, and how their distribution influences mechanical, resistive, or catalytic membrane properties. In a previous joint French-German project the Montpellier and the Bielefeld group have developed the tools which allow the determination of the structure of such copolymer microgels in detail by neutron scattering methods, based on isotopic substitution and computer simulations. The present project aims at exploiting and extending this knowledge to establish structure-property relations for smart microgel membranes. We will apply combinations of scattering, simulations, and imaging methods to specially-designed microgel particles containing different comonomers and catalytically-active nanoparticles in view of the formation of freestanding and crosslinked films. Then a similar analysis will be performed after film formation, and correlated with transport (resp. catalytic) properties. Based on this the partners will construct either first smart electrochemical devices, or proof-of-principle flow-through reactors with controllable catalytic activity.

催化、能量储存和转化目前具有最重要的社会意义。不幸的是，电化学势自一个世纪以来就已基本为人所知，并且无法显着增强。因此，只有通过最小化电池才能增加存储容量和电流通量。这涉及开发具有纳米级厚度的智能膜。此外，此类膜应具有智能特性，允许通过外部刺激控制离子通量并具有本质安全特性，例如过热时离子通量（电流）的自我调节。类似的方面也适用于纳米粒子 (NP) 的催化作用，由于纳米粒子具有巨大的比表面，因此非常有效。总之，纳米颗粒的活性难以控制，裸露颗粒也难以从产品中分离。在这两种智能膜领域，德国合作伙伴最近开发了一种将微凝胶交联成宏观独立式膜的方法，该膜具有受温度控制的电阻。微凝胶是通过经典丙烯酰胺和光或电子束可交联共聚单体的共聚制成的。然而，目前这些微凝胶的局部结构的许多细节尚不清楚，特别是共聚单体（分别是纳米颗粒）如何在空间上分布，以及它们的分布如何影响机械、电阻或催化膜特性。在之前的法德联合项目中，蒙彼利埃和比勒菲尔德小组开发了一些工具，可以根据同位素取代和计算机模拟，通过中子散射方法详细确定此类共聚物微凝胶的结构。本项目旨在利用和扩展这些知识来建立智能微凝胶膜的结构-性能关系。我们将结合散射、模拟和成像方法，对含有不同共聚单体和催化活性纳米颗粒的专门设计的微凝胶颗粒进行应用，以形成独立和交联的薄膜。然后，在成膜后将进行类似的分析，并将其与传输（分别是催化）特性相关联。在此基础上，合作伙伴将建造第一个智能电化学装置，或具有可控催化活性的原理验证流通式反应器。