GOALI: SusChem: Fundamentals of Oxygen Electrocatalysis on Mixed-Metal Oxyhydroxides for Alkaline Membrane Electrolysis

University Of Oregon Eugene, Eugene OR

Investigators

Abstract

GOALI/SusChem: Fundamentals of Oxygen Electrocatalysis on Mixed Metal Oxyhydroxides for Alkaline Membrane Electrolysis The development of clean and sustainable energy sources is critical for the economic and environmental vitality of human civilization. Renewable energy, such as sun and wind power, is intermittent and thus expensive to integrate with traditional energy sources at the capacity needed to power the planet. Scalable, inexpensive energy storage technologies are needed. In this project, Dr. Boettcher (University of Oregon) is collaborating with Dr. Ayers at Proton OnSite (Wallingford, Connecticut) to study catalysts for converting water into hydrogen and oxygen gas using renewable electricity as the input. Hydrogen gas is a sustainable, carbon-free, renewable fuel that can be used to replace fossil fuels. It can be used in fuel cells to regenerate electricity on demand or burned like natural gas, without carbon emission. This research addresses the inefficiency of the oxygen production part of the overall reaction. The team combines fundamental studies of how the oxygen production reaction occurs, with more applied aspects of research within the industry-academic collaboration to test optimized catalysts in commercially-relevant systems. The graduate student working on the project completes an industry internship at Proton OnSite. The Proton OnSite researchers visit the University of Oregon-Eugene. The team conducts outreach activities with local middle school students. These activities engage the students in hands-on energy storage and sustainability laboratory activities on the University of Oregon campus, and introduces university freshman to scientific research through research immersion laboratory courses. With this award from the Chemical Catalysis Program of the Division of Chemistry, Assoc. Professor Shannon Boettcher from the University of Oregon (UO) is: (1) synthesizing new multi-cation (oxy)hydroxide oxygen-evolution catalysts to identify active-site motifs and enhance key performance criteria (intrinsic activity, electrical conductivity, and stability), (2) employing in situ and ex situ scattering, x-ray absorption, and photoelectron spectroscopy techniques to correlate local electronic structure and bonding at iron sites to measured intrinsic activities across different catalysts, and (3) applying the fundamental knowledge obtained to design catalyst architectures that are electronically and ionically wired into efficient and stable alkaline-membrane electrolyzers operating at practical current densities > 1 A cm-2. The work is carried out in collaboration with Dr. Kathy Ayers at Proton OnSite (Wallingford, CT) and her team. In support of broader-impacts goals, the project integrates research and education through programs developed by Prof. Boettcher including hands-on middle school outreach events and research-immersion laboratories for UO freshman. The industry-academic partnership is strengthened by UO PhD students completing collaborative internships at Proton OnSite, and through Proton team members visiting the UO.