具有电催化制氢功能金属配合物的设计、合成与研究

Hydrogen is a clean fuel of the next generation to reduce consumption of fossil fuels and emission of greenhouse gases. However, the generation or oxidation of H2 needs a lot of energy. Hydrogenase enzymes can efficiently catalyze the production and the oxidation of hydrogen，but the sensitivity to oxygen makes them difficult to commercial applications. Thus, studies and developments of electrocatalysts that efficiently convert the energy from electricity into chemical bonds in fuels, or the reverse, converting chemical energy to electrical energy, will play a vital role in hydrogen energy storage and delivery systems in future. Despite the current advances in this field, the design of catalysts with high activity and stability in aqueous media at minimal overpotentials is a real challenge. On the basis of preliminary studies, this project puts forward: design and synthesis of new metal complexes with nitrogen-containing ligands are expected to resolve these issues. Several research topics proposed are as follows: (1) According to the characteristics and requirements of electro-catalytic hydrogen generation, design new metal complexes, which can decrease overpotential and improve the efficiency of H2 production; (2) Expand the scope of its application by improving and increasing solubility of metal complexes in aqueous media; (3) Determine factors affecting the efficiency of H2 production by revealing the mechanism of electro-catalytic cycle and the nature of intermediates; (4) Combination of a variety of factors, design new electro-catalytic catalysts for hydrogen production with function of low cost, easy preparation, stable, easy to dissolve and efficient, and establish a new type of methods for electro-catalytic hydrogen generation.

氢是减少化石燃料的消耗和排放温室气体的下一代清洁燃料。然而，氢气的生成或氧化都需要很高的能量。尽管氢化酶能有效催化氢的生成与氧化，但对氧气的敏感性使其难以商业化。因此，研究开发能实现电能与化学能转换的电催化剂在未来的氢能存储和传递中发挥重要的作用。尽管目前电催化制氢的研究已有一些进展，但要合成出在水介质中具有高活性、高稳定性和低过电位的电催化剂仍面临着巨大的挑战。在前期研究的基础上，该项目提出：新型含氮配体金属配合物的设计与合成有望解决这些问题。该课题拟开展研究的主要内容包括：（1）根据电催化制氢的特征与要求，设计出能降低过电位，提高催化效率的新型金属配合物；（2）改良和提高配合物在水介质中的溶解性，扩展其应用范围；（3）揭示电催化机理及中间体的性质，确定影响氢气生产效率的因素；（4）设计出价廉、易得、稳定、易溶解和高效的新型制氢催化剂，建立新的电催化制氢方法。