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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 361 records · Page 20
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Effect of Engineered Cracks in Catalyst Layers on PEMFC Catalyst Layer Durability

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are expected to play a pivotal role in decarbonizing the transportation sector, and particularly heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs). However, improvements in durability are needed for PEMFCs to compete with state-of-the-art power sources for HDVs. Here, we examine how catalyst layer (CL) cracks that are engineered affect the CL durability by using patterned silicon templates to control the CL crack density at the micrometer scale. Electrochemical analyses show that the initial PEMFC performance is relatively unaffected by crack density, but the performance after durability testing was strongly affected. Specifically, CLs with high crack density showed higher performance relative to CLs without cracks after application of a carbon corrosion accelerated stress test. Electrochemical analyses coupled with X-ray computed tomography and scanning transmission electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy showed that the cracks provide shorter oxygen diffusion pathways to reaction sites, leading to decreased oxygen transport resistance. Additionally, we observed that the catalyst durability is unaffected by cracks. Our results provide a mechanistic explanation of the role of cracks in CL durability.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2015

Hematite‐Based Solar Water Splitting in Acidic Solutions: Functionalization by Mono‐ and Multilayers of Iridium Oxygen‐Evolution Catalysts

Abstract Solar water splitting in acidic solutions has important technological implications, but has not been demonstrated to date in a dual absorber photoelectrochemical cell. The lack of functionally stable water‐oxidation catalysts (WOCs) in acids is a key reason for this slow development. The only WOCs that are stable at low pH are Ir‐based systems, which are typically too expensive to be implemented broadly. It is now shown that this deficiency may be corrected by applying an ultra‐thin monolayer of a molecular Ir WOC to hematite for solar water splitting in acidic solutions. The turn‐on voltage is observed to shift cathodically by 250 mV upon the application of a monolayer of the molecular Ir WOC. When the molecular WOC is replaced by a heterogeneous multilayer derivative, stable solar water splitting for over 5 h is achieved with near‐unity Faradaic efficiency.

Li, Wei↗
DOE OSTI2015

The Mechanism of CO and CO 2 Hydrogenation to Methanol over Cu‐Based Catalysts

Abstract Methanol, an important chemical, fuel additive, and precursor for clean fuels, is produced by hydrogenation of carbon oxides over Cu‐based catalysts. Despite the technological maturity of this process, the understanding of this apparently simple reaction is still incomplete with regard to the reaction mechanism and the active sites. Regarding the latter, recent progress has shown that stepped and ZnO x ‐decorated Cu surfaces are crucial for the performance of industrial catalysts. Herein, we integrate this insight with additional experiments into a full microkinetic description of methanol synthesis. In particular, we show how the presence or absence of the Zn promoter dramatically changes not only the activity, but unexpectedly the reaction mechanism itself. The Janus‐faced character of Cu with two different sites for methanol synthesis, Zn‐promoted and unpromoted, resolves the long‐standing controversy regarding the Cu/Zn synergy and adds methanol synthesis to the few major industrial catalytic processes that are described on an atomic level.

Studt, Felix↗
DOE OSTI2015

Controllable Fabrication of Tungsten Oxide Nanoparticles Confined in Graphene-Analogous Boron Nitride as an Efficient Desulfurization Catalyst

Tungsten oxide nanoparticles (WOxNPs) are gaining increasing attention, but low stabiliity and poor dispersion of WOxNPs hinder their catalytic applications. Herein, WOxNPs were confined in graphene-analogous boron nitride (g-BN) by a one-step, in situ method at high temperature, which can enhance the interactions between WOxNPs and the support and control the sizes of WOxNPs in a range of about 4–5 nm. The as-prepared catalysts were applied in catalytic oxidation of aromatic sulfur compounds in which they showed high catalytic activity. A balance between the W loading and the size distribution of the WOxNPs could govern the catalytic activity. Furthermore, a synergistic effect between g-BN and WOxNPs also contributed to high catalytic activity. The reaction mechanism is discussed in detail and the catalytic scope was enlarged.

Wu, Peiwen↗
DOE OSTI2021

Catalyst Revised: Rethinking the ParaView in Situ Analysis and Visualization API

As in situ analysis goes mainstream, ease of development, deployment, and maintenance becomes essential, perhaps more so than raw capabilities. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of Catalyst, an API for in situ analysis using ParaView, which we refactored with these objectives in mind. Furthermore, our implementation combines design ideas from in situ frameworks and HPC tools like Ascent and MPICH.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2020

The Role of Co-ZSM-5 Catalysts in Aerobic Oxidation of Ethylbenzene

Various forms of cobalt catalysts have been studied extensively for selective aerobic oxidation of hydrocarbons. However, it remains unclear whether cobalt can directly activate molecular oxygen under mild reaction conditions. Here we investigated the catalytic roles of cobalt in ethylbenzene oxidation with and without a hydroperoxide initiator. The contribution of different cobalt species was studied by varying the metal loading on Co-impregnated ZSM-5 samples. Quantitative EPR was used to determine the impact of cobalt catalysts on the free radical concentrations. Furthermore, this work provided strong evidence that cobalt, in several different forms, catalyzes hydrocarbon oxidation by facilitating peroxy bond cleavage, instead of direct oxygen activation.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Recent Advances in the Understanding of Boron-Containing Catalysts for the Selective Oxidation of Alkanes to Olefins

The production of ethylene and propylene through aerobic alkane oxidation without significant coproduction of CO and CO 2 (CO x ) presents a challenge to academic and industrial researchers alike. Recently, boron-containing materials such as hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) have been identified as active and selective catalysts for the oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of propane to propylene with minimal CO x selectivity. Additionally, high olefin selectivity is also obtained in the oxidation of other alkanes and other materials such as metal borides and supported B/SiO 2 have been successfully applied to this transformation. Here, recent advances in the understanding of these catalysts in the oxidation of light alkanes are presented here providing a framework for further study of this exciting field.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Transition metal carbide catalysts for biomass conversion: A review

The increasing demand for sustainable energy resources has initiated the investigation of biomass conversion over a wide range of catalysts. Among those, transition metal carbides have been extensively studied which demonstrated distinct reactivity and/or selectivity from transition or noble metals in a variety of chemical reactions. In this review, we summarize recent advances in the synthesis of transition metal carbides and their applications in biomass conversion, particularly focusing on the catalytic conversions of (hemi)cellulose, lignin and some typical platform chemicals to fuels or fine chemicals involving C-C, C-O-C and C-O-H bonds cleavages. Perspectives regarding the future research directions on the improvement of transition metal carbide catalysts and detailed reaction mechanism studies are also presented.

Pang, Jifeng↗