U.S. Develops New Catalyst for Preparing Hydrogen with Acid Water

According to a recent report by the American Physicists Organization Network, American scientists have developed a new technology and used it to create a chemical molybdenite that is structurally and chemically similar to the active part of the widely used molybdenum. New molecules. The new technology can be used to make new catalysts that are more efficient and cheaper than platinum and produce hydrogen from acid water. The research was published in the recently published "Science" magazine.

The research team led by Hermana Carolina Karnadana at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, have teamed up to produce this molecule. It can simulate triangular dichromated molybdenum cells along the edges of the molybdenite crystals. Scientists said that from the catalytic point of view, massive molybdenite crystal materials are relatively inert, but their boundary points are catalytically active. Therefore, molecules similar to the boundary points can be used to make them more efficient and cheaper. The new catalyst allows scientists to obtain the same catalytic effect with less material.

Molybdenite is a crystalline form of molybdenum metal. It is also the main mineral used to extract ferromolybdenum. It is generally used as a lubricant, but it is also a standard catalyst that can be used to remove oil and natural gas to reduce its oxidation during combustion.* The amount of emissions. Recent studies have demonstrated that molybdenite nanoparticles can also act as catalysts for the electrochemical and photochemical reactions of water for hydrogen production.

At present, the best way to produce hydrogen is to use a platinum catalyst to decompose water molecules into hydrogen molecules and oxygen molecules. However, with the soaring price of platinum, people urgently need a low-cost alternative catalyst. Molybdenite is abundantly stored and its cost is only one-hundredth of that of platinum. Therefore, scientists have begun to study the potential of molybdenite in hydrogen production and hope to develop a cheap, efficient, and carbon-neutral hydrogen production. means. However, there are also problems with molybdenite. High-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy studies and theoretical calculations have determined that molybdenite is catalytically active only on its triangular counterparts, but the production of molybdenites with a higher density of catalytic boundary points is a huge challenge.

The team used a PY5Me2 ligand to make a molybdenum molecule. Although there is no such molecule in nature, its performance is stable and its structure is the same as the boundary point of the molybdenite triangle. It can also form a layer with Build similar molybdenite border materials. The molybdenite composites synthesized using new molecules as ligands can efficiently catalyze the production of hydrogen from acid water.

Researcher Jeffrey Long pointed out: "We can adjust the electronic structure of this molecule by modifying ligands. This shows that we can customize the activity, stability, and overpotential of hydrogen reduction to improve the performance of the resulting material. ."

Researcher Christopher Zhang said: "We are now developing molecules similar to the active sites in other catalytic materials, which are expected to work in a wider pH range while studying light-driven catalytic reactions. The latest molecules may not be complete. It replaces existing catalysts, but it does provide a way to increase the density of active sites of inorganic solid catalytic materials, allowing us to 'spend money and do big things'."