Researchers Created New Catalyst That Used to Develop Carbon-Neutral Technology
A research team from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) has developed an operando soft X-ray absorption spectrometry based on a radiation accelerator, to improve catalyst materials and their ability to be employed in carbon neutral technology.
Figure 1: New catalyst to develop carbon neutral technology.
Figure 1 shows that The Republic of Korea has declared that they intend to be carbon neutral by 2050 and are exerting efforts to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. In order to achieve this – along with green hydrogen production that reduces the generation of carbon dioxide – carbon neutral technology that utilizes carbon dioxide is essential. [1]
In order for these two technologies to be effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the energy used must be reduced by increasing the activity of the water oxidation electrode, which induces an electrochemical reaction.
KIST announced that this research has developed a new strategy to fabricate electrodes by observing and analyzing the surface electronic structure during the reaction of the water oxidation electrode applied to "hydrogen production and conversion of carbon dioxide."
The research team found that general cobalt was reconstructed during the reaction, through measuring the electronic structure and spin states of the electrode surface by using accelerator-based soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy under the UHV condition. [2]
A method to improve the performance of the water oxidation electrode, through this discovery of the change in the electrode material. It is necessary to maintain a trivalent oxidation state in order to maintain high water oxidation activity, that the process developed by the research team enables to obtain the 3.2 oxidation state and high activity.
The developed electrode has a more than 1000 times larger electrochemical surface area compared to a commercial cobalt electrode, and move than 10 times improvement in hydrogen production performance when applied to an actual water electrolysis system.
Dr. Oh said, “By developing an operando soft X-ray absorption spectrometry based on a radiation accelerator, we have taken one step further in understanding the properties of catalyst materials and improving their performance. This is an essential technology for green hydrogen production and electrochemical reconstruction.”
References:
- https://www.innovationnewsnetwork.com/catalyst-develop-carbon-neutral-technology/20614/
- source: https://phys.org/news/2022-04-catalyst-carbon-neutral-technology.html
- source: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/950492
Cite this article:
Sri Vasagi K (2022), Researchers Created New Catalyst That Used to Develop Carbon-Neutral Technology, Anatechmaz, pp. 292