Development of sustainable energy sources is an urgent issue to meet growing demand in world energy consumption. Among the various types of sustainable energy, hydrogen and ammonia are one of the most promising renewable energy sources with a high energy density. The discovery of efficient catalysts represents one of the most important and challenging issues for the implementation of photoelectrochemical (PEC) or electrochemical fuel production. A critical requirement for outstanding catalysts is not only an ability to boost the kinetics of a chemical reaction but also a durability against electrochemical and photo-induced degradation. To address this critical and long-standing technical barrier, I have focused on an intense search for efficient, durable, and inexpensive alternative catalysts. My research have been concentrated on two subjects; (1) new possibilities of an atomic-scale catalyst as the efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalyst, (2) the first report on the experimental electrochemical production of ammonia using Zirconium Nitride nanolayers grown by plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition.<br/>Firstly, carbon-based nanomaterials have emerged as promising candidate catalyst for HER. For the first time, I investigated new possibilities for monolayer graphene as an electrocatalyst for efficient HER and found that atomic defect engineering such as nitrogen doping through treatment with N<sub>2</sub> plasma improved the catalytic activity. This study has also attracted particular interest to the materials and chemical society in that it has demonstrated the role of carbon-based catalysts with comprehensive electrochemical analysis.<br/>Secondly, the reduction of nitrogen to produce ammonia has been attracting much attention as a renewable energy technology. Traditionally, ammonia has been produced through the Haber-Bosch process, in which atmospheric nitrogen combines with hydrogen at high temperature and high pressure. For this reason, developing electrochemical ammonia-production methods under ambient temperature and pressure conditions should significantly reduce the energy input required to produce ammonia. Metal nitrides are an interesting class of materials for electrochemical ammonia synthesis because they may be able to form ammonia through Mars-van Krevelen mechanism. Here, we are the first to report on the experimental electrochemical production of ammonia using Zirconium Nitride nanolayers grown by plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition.

Photoelectochemical and electrochemical fuel production using low dimensional catalytic materials

255th National Meeting (2018)

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