Dr. Morris Bullock and Dr. Monte Helm reviewed the catalysis research at the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis, where Bullock is the director, in a recent article in Accounts of Chemical Research.
Generating power without gasoline, diesel, or coal could change our nation's energy and security landscape. However, replacing technologies that use fossil fuel with ones that require rare metals is unsustainable.
Making hydrogen economically demands a quick, efficient reaction. Creating that reaction demands a catalyst. CME scientists found that a proton and water-packed environment lets the catalyst work 50 times faster—without added energy.
Quickly, reliably turning wind energy into fuel means looking beyond the catalyst to its foundation, according to a recent study from the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis.
At PNNL, scientists have elaborated on a strategy to map the catalytic route. Scientists can now explore design decisions with molecular catalysts that store or release energy from the chemical bond in dihydrogen (H2).
Where protons, or positive charges, decide to rest makes the difference between proceeding towards ammonia (NH3) production or not, according to scientists at PNNL and Villanova University.
In an invited ACS Catalysis Viewpoint paper, scientists at PNNL proposed a way to measure and report the energy efficiency of molecular electrocatalysts.
Scientists at the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis (CME) devised a new computation-based method to predict the catalytic intermediates that could represent a thermodynamic sink.
Taking a cue from enzymes, researchers at PNNL placed the amino acid arginine at the periphery of a hydrogen-splitting catalyst that cleaves hydrogen into protons and electrons.
Like ripping open a dinner roll, a fuel cell catalyst that converts hydrogen into electricity must tear open a hydrogen molecule. Now researchers have captured a view of such a catalyst holding onto the two halves of its hydrogen feast.
In their invited review for Chemical Communications, Dr. R. Morris Bullock, Dr. Aaron Appel, and Dr. Monte Helm at PNNL describe how proton relays and other factors influence the catalysts that produce the desired chemical bonds.
Using their understanding of a proton's choices, CME researchers revised their nickel-based catalyst to quickly handle one of a fuel cell's tough challenges: breaking chemical bonds and freeing the stored electrons to work.
By directly comparing three closely related catalysts, CME scientists established that hydrogen production speed and efficiency are influenced by the molecules' structure and proton relay arrangement, not the total number relays.
