| NSF Org: |
CBET Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | July 31, 2014 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | July 31, 2014 |
| Award Number: | 1433442 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Carole Read
cread@nsf.gov (703)292-2418 CBET Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems ENG Directorate for Engineering |
| Start Date: | January 1, 2015 |
| End Date: | December 31, 2017 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $750,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $750,000.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
450 JANE STANFORD WAY STANFORD CA US 94305-2004 (650)723-2300 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
381 North-South Mall Stanford CA US 94305-5025 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
Catalysis, EchemS-Electrochemical Systems |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.041 |
ABSTRACT
Principal Investigator: Thomas F. Jaramillo
Number: 1433442
Nontechnical Description
There is growing urgency to develop renewable alternatives to fossil fuels for satisfying global energy and chemical demands. Hydrogen gas is a promising renewable fuel that can be made from sustainable resources. One particularly promising route to produce renewable hydrogen gas is photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting, in which the photons of solar energy are used to convert water into hydrogen and oxygen gas in the presence of a catalyst material. This proposed research effort is aimed at tackling fundamental research challenges in this field, facilitating the development of active, stable, and readily available materials that can absorb the sun's photons and use these photons to drive the splitting of water into hydrogen gas on the surface of the material. Towards this end, the proposed research effort will modify the surface chemistry of mixtures of metal oxide compounds and elements abundant in the earth's crust to enable the electronic properties that improve light absorption and catalyse water splitting. Continued studies will improve the stability of these materials in water. Graduate students and undergraduate students will be the primary researchers on this project, building the skills necessary for them to grow into future leaders in the renewable energy technology sector. The project activities also feature significant outreach efforts to the Latino community, including K-12 and undergraduate students in Puerto Rico, as well as Latino students and parents in the Palo Alto, California community.
Technical Description
Hydrogen gas is a promising renewable fuel which can be made from sustainable resources. This project will perform an integrated study of the surfaces, interfaces, and bulk materials for unassisted photoelectrochemical (PEC) splitting of water to hydrogen gas. Computational modeling suggests that a tandem cell consisting of a Si photocathode and a bismuth vanadate photoanode can reach solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiencies of 10%, corresponding to100 J/s of chemical energy per square meter of solar energy collection surface. The goal of this project is to gain a fundamental understanding of materials designed to achieve 10% STH in a tandem cell that is stable in acid and consists of only earth-abundant elements. To achieve this goal, Si photocathodes as well as high-performance III-V semiconductor photoanodes will be engineered for improved activity and stability in acid by modifying the surface with molybdenum sulfide nano-materials. Similarly, bismuth vanadate photoanodes will be engineered for improved electronic properties, durability, and catalysis in acids. Outcomes from studies will provide a fundamental understanding of the failure mechanisms in PEC materials. Tandem cells of Si and bismuth vanadate will be fabricated and tested for hydrogen and oxygen gas production in both the laboratory under controlled conditions and at outdoor testing facilities under true solar conditions using US Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory facilities. Overall, this approach has the potential to advance fundamental understanding while also creating new technologies with the potential for efficient and stable hydrogen production by PEC water-splitting. With respect to education and broadening participation, graduate students and undergraduate students will be the primary researchers on this project, building the skills necessary for them to grow into future leaders in the renewable energy technology sector. The project activities also feature significant outreach efforts to the Latino community, including K-12 and undergraduate students in Puerto Rico, as well as Latino students and parents in the Palo Alto, California community.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Energy and sustainability involve key areas of technology of great importance to society. In this research project, we have worked on sustainable processes that use sunlight to power the conversion of water to hydrogen (H2), providing new fundamental knowledge of the physical, chemical, and engineering phenomena involved and using those insights to develop improved systems. Well over 100 billion pounds of H2 are produced annually across the globe (approx. 20 pounds per person per year on average) for use in the fuels, chemicals, and agriculture sectors. Nearly all of that H2 is currently derived from fossil resources and produced by means of unsustainable processes; this project aims to provide the foundational underpinnings to develop new, sustainable technology in this space.
A key research driver in this project is the development of new materials that can provide the needed efficiency and stability to enable solar-derived hydrogen, with a major focus on materials derived from scalable, earth-abundant elements. To this end, we have developed sophisticated catalysts for H2 production based on nanomaterials consisting of molybdenum sulfides and cobalt phosphides [see for instance: T.R. Hellstern, et. al., ACS Catalysis, 7, 7126-7130 (2017). DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.7b02133]. We also developed fabrication processes to integrate these advanced catalysts onto semiconductors for direct solar-to-hydrogen systems [see for instance: Reuben J. Britto, et. al., Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 7, 16821-16832 (2019). DOI: 10.1039/C9TA05247J; L.A. King, et. al., ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 9, 36792?36798 (2017). DOI: 10.1021/acsami.7b10749; P. Chakthranont, et. al., Advanced Energy Materials, 7, 1701515 (2017). DOI: 10.1002/aenm.201701515; T.R. Hellstern, et. al., Advanced Energy Materials, 6, 1501758 (2015). DOI: 10.1002/aenm.201501758]. A key focus has been on understanding fundamental phenomena at materials interfaces.
Recognizing the importance of efficiency, through this project we also developed strategies to achieve high-performance water-splitting systems, establishing a world-record of 30% solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiency [J. Jia, et. al., Nature Communications, 7, 13237 (2016). DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13237.]
This project has also provided a range of broader impacts to society. For one, the science and engineering goals are directed towards challenges in energy and sustainability, matters of great importance for society across the globe. Secondly, the research undertaken by this project has helped to build the future workforce of scientists and engineers and broaden participation in STEM disciplines. A diverse group of researchers have participated in this project, including 7 PhD students (two of whom are women), 5 post-doctoral researchers (two of whom are women, plus one member of the LGBTQ+ community), along with one undergraduate researcher (a woman), one high-school teacher, and one high-school student. Three of the aforementioned women who have participated in this project have moved on to become university professors in STEM disciplines, and the undergraduate student has gone on to graduate school, working towards her PhD in Chemical Engineering. The PI also integrated research with education by incorporating results from this project into the classroom at both the undergraduate and graduate level, through his teaching efforts in classes on energy, spectroscopy, and chemical separations. There were numerous visits to K-12 schools within the local Bay Area made by the PI and the students, aimed at inspiring the next generation of STEM scholars. The PI also traveled to his home of Puerto Rico, visiting three campuses in the University of Puerto Rico system (all Hispanic Serving Institutions, HSI) to give scientific talks on this project?s research as well as to engage in discussions with students and faculty.
This project has had a number of positive impacts in the technology space, deepening our fundamental understanding of science and engineering, while further developing the future STEM workforce and reaching out to the broader community. This project has played an important part in enabling a better future for energy and sustainability.
Last Modified: 07/30/2020
Modified by: Thomas Jaramillo
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