New Research Could Unlock Secrets in Hydrogen-Powered Energy
Atomic-level discovery made by University of Oklahoma researchers could help make renewable energy more efficient.
NORMAN, OKLA. – Researchers from the University of Oklahoma have pioneered a method to measure hydrogen transfer energy in complex materials, paving the way for advancements in energy storage and renewable energy technology.
Published research led by OU doctoral student Nazmiye Gökçe Altınçekic used a technique called open-circuit potential to study energy changes within a hybrid material known as material-organic framework, or MOF. The MOF used in this research has a structure similar to titanium dioxide, a material widely used in energy applications. This was the first time open-circuit potential was used to measure energy changes in hydrogen transfer reactions in this type of material.
Hyunho Noh, OU assistant professor and principal investigator of the study, said:
This type of reaction is needed to move from fossil fuels to more carbon-neutral fuel sources,
“Furthermore, if we want to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and turn it into useable fuel, then these findings are quite fundamental.”
According to Noh, the strength of a hydrogen atom’s bond to a surface is key to its reactivity. He likens the desired bond strength to the Goldilocks principle.
Noh said,
We don’t want the binding energy to be too low or too high. If the reactivity is too weak, the bond between the hydrogen atom and the surface will never form. If it’s too strong, the hydrogen atom will never leave the surface,
“So, we want to tune the catalyst to be in the perfect range where it’s just strong enough to react, but not too strong that it can never leave.”
Previously, researchers have attempted to make these catalysts through trial-and-error, mixing and matching materials in hopes of finding the right combination. Altınçekic and Noh tried an alternate method. They first directly measured the binding energy of the MOF, then used that value as a basis to further tune the MOF for optimum value. Chance Lander, a fourth-year doctoral student, was then tasked with computationally predicting the reactions.
Lander said,
We wanted to investigate if the placement of hydrogen atoms on the MOF caused significant bonding impacts. By using computational chemistry, we were able to go step by step, testing multiple configurations, and observe what happens at the atomic level,
The team discovered that the binding energy of hydrogen atoms and this MOF is quite different from what previously published research suggested. Results from the OU study demonstrate that by tuning the energy in these reactions, a library of titanium dioxide materials and their reactivities could be compiled. Doing so could potentially help future researchers create better materials for clean energy.
Noh said,
We demonstrated that, even though the MOF and titanium dioxide looked identical, the binding energy of the two were very different.
“Is that because of the materials used? Is it because this specific connectivity gives us this specific value? That’s for future research to decide, but it is exciting,”
Learn more about energy research being conducted by the Noh Research Group.
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New Research Could Unlock Secrets in Hydrogen-Powered Energy, source