Electrocatalysis VI: fundamental and applied aspects of emerging and classical problems in electrochemical energy conversion

Abstract

The nowadays world fast technological development has raised the demand of electrical/mechanical energies to levels well above the capacity of their generation exclusively from sustainable/renewable sources. This implies that significant fractions of usable energies have to be derived from fossil fuels, whose consequence has strong negative impacts over the environment, one of them related to the release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, which is considered the main causes of the global warming. In this way, there is a clear need of continuously removing this pollutant from the atmosphere and of enhancing usage of net zero-carbon emission renewable fuels based on biomass, particularly in the case of Brazil, and of developing and scaling-up more efficient and versatile energy conversion systems based on photovoltaic, solar, wind turbines and hydraulic electric power systems. Consistently with this scenario, the main objectives of this project include investigations of electrocatalytic processes aiming at improving the efficiency of energy conversion systems related to (i) the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide to "store" electrical energy and, at the same time, producing value-added products such as hydrogen, liquid hydrocarbons, methane, ethylene, formic acid, CO, methanol, ethanol, etc.; (ii) the electrochemical energy conversion processes on water and nitrogen electrolyzers and fuel cells, aiming at improving efficiency of converting electrical energy into chemical energy stored on carrier species such as molecular hydrogen, ammonia, etc., and vice-versa and; (iii) the electrocatalysis of oxidation of alcohols and other molecules and the development of solar driven photo-assisted direct alcohol fuel cells, focusing on improving understanding of basic and applied processes related to energy conversion and syntheses of value-added products. In all cases, different types of massive and nanostructured electrocatalysts and photoelectrocatalysts will be investigated. An important goal is to determine the parameters that govern the (photo)-electrocatalytic activity and stability, reaction mechanism and kinectic instability, for constructing innovative electrolyzers/fuel cells for the production/utilization of the different energy carriers. Seven experienced investigators, assisted by four laboratory technicians, form the permanent researcher team. A group of approximately 30 post-doc researchers and scientific initiation, master and doctorate students is expected to be engaged in the research activity, stressing the high priority of forming largely qualified human resource. (AU)