Hydrogen from Acidic Water

NEWS RELEASE February 9, 2012 For Immediate Release Contact: Lynn Yarris lcyarris@lbl.gov / (510)-486-5375

Click  here to view this release online with images.  Hydrogen from Acidic Water:      Berkeley Lab Researchers Develop a Potential Low Cost Alternative to Platinum for Splitting Water A technique for creating a new molecule that structurally and chemically replicates the active part of the widely used industrial catalyst molybdenite has been developed by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). This technique holds promise for the creation of catalytic materials that can serve as effective low-cost alternatives to platinum for generating hydrogen gas from water that is acidic. Christopher Chang and Jeffrey Long, chemists who hold joint appointments with Berkeley Lab and the University of California (UC) Berkeley, led a research team that synthesized a molecule to mimic the triangle-shaped molybdenum disulfide units along the edges of molybdenite crystals, which is where almost all of the catalytic activity takes place. Since the bulk of molybdenite crystalline material is relatively inert from a catalytic standpoint, molecular analogs of the catalytically active edge sites could be used to make new materials that are much more efficient and cost-effective catalysts. "Using molecular chemistry, we've been able to capture the functional essence of molybdenite and synthesize the smallest possible unit of its proposed catalytic active site," says Chang, who is also an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). "It should now be possible to design new catalysts that have a high density of active sites so we get the same catalytic activity with much less material." Says Long, "Inorganic solids, such as molybdenite, are an important class of catalysts that often derive their activity from sparse active edge sites, which are structurally distinct from the inactive bulk of the molecular solid. We've demonstrated that it is possible to create catalytically active molecular analogs of these sites that are tailored for a specific purpose. This represents a conceptual path forward to improving future catalytic materials." Chang and Long are the corresponding authors of a paper in the journal Science describing this research titled "A Molecular MoS2 Edge Site Mimic for Catalytic Hydrogen Generation." Other authors are Hemamala Karunadasa, Elizabeth Montalvo, Yujie Sun and Marcin Majda. Molybdenite is the crystalline sulfide of molybdenum and the principal mineral from which molybdenum metal is extracted. Although commonly thought of as a lubricant, molybdenite is the standard catalyst used to remove sulfur from petroleum and natural gas for the reduction of sulfur dioxide emissions when those fuels are burned. Recent studies have shown that in its nanoparticle form, molybdenite also holds promise for catalyzing the electrochemical and photochemical generation of hydrogen from water. Hydrogen could play a key role in future renewable energy technologies if a relatively cheap, efficient and carbon-neutral means of producing it can be developed. Currently, the best available technique for producing hydrogen is to split water molecules into molecules of hydrogen and oxygen using platinum as the catalyst. However, with platinum going for more than $2,000 an ounce, the market is wide open for a low cost alternative catalyst. Molybdenite is far more plentiful and about 1/70th the cost of platinum, but poses other problems. "Molybdenite has a layered structure with multiple microdomains, most of which are chemically inert," Chang says. "High-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy studies and theoretical calculations have identified the triangular molybdenum disulfide edges as the active sites for catalysis; however, preparing molybdenite with a high density of functional edge sites in a predictable manner is extremely challenging." Chang, Long and their research team met this challenge using a pentapyridyl ligand known as PY5Me2 to create a molybdenum disulfide molecule that, while not found in nature, is stable and structurally identical to the proposed triangular edge sites of molybdenite. It was shown that these synthesized molecules can form a layer of material that is analogous to constructing a sulfide edge of molybdenite. "The electronic structure of our molecular analog can be adjusted through ligand modifications," Long says. "This suggests we should be able to tailor the material's activity, stability and required over-potential for proton reduction to improve its performance." In 2010, Chang and Long and Hemamala Karunadasa, who is the lead author on this new Science paper, used the PY5Me2 ligand to create a molybdenum-oxo complex that can effectively and efficiently catalyze the generation of hydrogen from neutral buffered water or even sea water. Molybdenite complexes synthesized from this new molecular analog can just as effectively and efficiently catalyze hydrogen gas from acidic water. "We're now looking to develop molecular analogs of active sites in other catalytic materials that will work over a range of pH conditions, as well as extend this work to photocatalytic systems" Chang says. Adds Long, "Our molecular analog for the molybdenite active site might not be a replacement for any existing catalytic materials but it does provide a way to increase the density of active sites in inorganic solid catalytic materials and thereby allow us to do more with less." This research was supported by the DOE Office of Science, in part through the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, a DOE Energy Innovation Hub.   # # #

Over $12 Million to Spur Solar Energy Innovation

News release from the Department of Energy:

Energy Department Announces Over $12 Million to Spur Solar Energy Innovation

February 8, 2012 - 1:53pm

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As part of the Obama Administration’s blueprint for an American economy built to last, today U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced over $12 million to speed solar energy innovation from the lab to the marketplace through the Energy Department’s SunShot Incubator program. The funding will accelerate American innovation in solar energy and manufacturing by supporting advancements in hardware, reductions in soft costs, and the development of pilot manufacturing and production projects.

“Investments in American energy and manufacturing are critical building blocks for an American economy built to last,” said Secretary Chu. “The SunShot Incubator program fosters the innovative small businesses that will rapidly bring technological advances to market and pioneer a new era in American energy.”

The SunShot Incubator program helps launch new startups and business units within existing companies to accelerate the innovative solar technology development. Since 2007, DOE has invested $60 million through the Incubator in promising technologies as they are brought from the lab to the marketplace. These investments have catalyzed $1.6 billion in private sector support. The federal investment in these projects has been leveraged at a rate of more than 26-to-1.

The funding opportunity announced today builds on the SunShot Incubator program’s history of successful partnerships. Nearly forty companies have participated in the Incubator, including Colorado-based PrimeStar. In 2007, DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory and PrimeStar Solar announced a cooperative R&D agreement to transition NREL’s cadmium telluride solar technology to commercial production. PrimeStar also received a $3 million Incubator award that year to commercialize its highly-efficient, low-cost photovoltaic solar panels based on the technology pioneered by NREL. Today, PrimeStar is owned by GE, which has announced a $600 million investment in the company and the construction of a large-scale manufacturing plant in Colorado that will employ more than 350 American workers to produce state-of-the-art solar panels. Through the Department’s SunShot Incubator program, these types of investments help early-stage companies overcome barriers to bring innovative solar technologies to market faster.

Today’s SunShot Incubator funding will support innovations in the development of hardware and non-hardware approaches from the proof-of-concept stage to prototype demonstration, including advances in photovoltaics, concentrating solar power and power electronics, as well as streamlined permitting, inspection and financing approaches, and to shorten the timeline for awardees to transition innovative prototypes produced at lab-scale into pilot and eventually full-scale manufacturing, production, or deployment. Each of the investments will require significant cost-share commitments from the awardees.

Applications are due on April 9, 2012. For more information and application requirements for the Funding Opportunity Announcement, please visit the Funding Opportunity Exchange website.

Launched in February 2011, DOE’s SunShot Initiative funds competitive research to make solar energy systems faster, easier, and cheaper for America’s homeowners, businesses and utilities to generate clean, renewable energy. The collaborative national effort aims to make solar energy cost competitive with other forms of energy by the end of the decade. Achieving this goal will drive widespread adoption of solar energy technologies, fortify the U.S. leadership in the global clean energy race, spur new industries, and create jobs across the nation. For more information, visit the SunShot Initiative website.

DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy accelerates development and facilitates deployment of energy efficiency and renewable technologies and market-based solutions that strengthen U.S. energy security, environmental quality, and economic vitality.