(Energy Technology Division Supramaniam Srinivasan Young Investigator Award) Materials and Capability Development in Photo- and Electro-chemical Electrons-to-Molecules (E2M) Device Research

Abstract

In this talk, I will first give an overview of some recent work in photoelectrochemical (PEC) materials and device development as part of the HydroGEN Consortium. Within this consortium, I serve as the NREL lead and a capability expert for the PEC water splitting technology. Our group supports several, university-led seedling projects in developing various PEC materials and plays the central role in a national laboratory collaboration focused on improving PEC device durability. I will highlight the development and demonstration of our flagship capability for PEC device benchmarking and on-sun testing.In the second part of this talk, I will present some efforts in low-temperature electrolysis (LTE) research as part of the H2NEW Consortium and a Technology Commercialization Fund project. My work focuses on ex-situ characterization of membrane electrode assembly (MEA) performance and development of porous transport layer (PTL) materials and surface modifications. The ex-situ characterization approaches are used in concert with in-situ testing to understand and improve LTE materials and interface properties.Finally, I will give an overview of NREL’s recent E2M electrochemical device testbed development for CO2 and N2 reduction research. This includes powerful, inline product analysis systems and custom hardware to study electrocatalyst integration, evaluate cell architectures, and conduct spatial and combinatorial studies.