Project description
Improving green ammonia with platinum catalysts
Ammonia is increasingly being produced using renewable energy in an effort to reduce climate change. However, such green ammonia power cells suffer from overpotential and nitrous oxide poisoning, which hinders their operation at low temperatures. With funding from Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, the EluMecAOR project aims to solve this by studying key reaction mechanisms and pathways of the ammonia oxidation reaction. To try and reduce overpotential, researchers will use atomic layer deposition to modify the surface of a platinum catalyst with metal oxide clusters. This will then be examined in detail using fundamental electrochemical and operando microscopy and spectroscopy methods.
Objective
Green hydrogen produced from renewable electricity through water electrolysis can be converted via the energy-efficient Haber-Bosch process into green ammonia (NH3). Currently, large industrial efforts are under way to scale up production globally. With an expected surge in green NH3 supply, the question arises whether the stored energy can be released electrochemically in NH3 fuel cells. However, so far, high ammonia oxidation reaction (AOR) overpotentials and particularly a NO-poisoning mechanism have prevented application of low-temperature NH3 fuel cells. Therefore, this project focuses on the elucidation of key reaction mechanisms and pathways offered by the AOR (EluMecAOR). In particular, I hypothesize that metal oxide modifications on the Pt surface offer a way to reduce the AOR overpotential independently from the deactivation mechanism. To test this hypothesis, the catalyst surface composition will be modified using atomic layer deposition (ALD) of metal oxide clusters and characterized in detail, including fundamental electrochemical and operando microscopy and spectroscopy methods. This Marie Curie Fellowship combines my own expertise on fundamental Pt electrochemistry and the effects of metal oxide modifications with the world-leading expertise of the Interface Science Department at the Fritz-Haber Institute of the Max-Planck-Society on controlled nanoparticle synthesis and operando electrocatalyst research.
Fields of science
- natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistryinorganic compounds
- natural scienceschemical scienceselectrochemistryelectrolysis
- natural scienceschemical sciencescatalysis
- engineering and technologynanotechnologynano-materials
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsfuel cells
Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinator
80539 Munchen
Germany