With this award from the Chemical Catalysis Program, Professor Robert M. Waymouth of Stanford University will develop electrocatalysts for electrodehydrogenation of alcohols. Specific challenges for investigation are electrooxidation of alcohols at low overpotentials to maximize the energy efficiency of anode electrooxidation catalysts. A central hypothesis guiding this program is that transition metal catalysts active for the reversible transfer hydrogenation of ketones with alcohols constitute promising candidates for alcohol electrodehydrogenation catalysts. Catalysts which mediate reversible transfer hydrogenation reactions operate at the reversible potential for alcohol oxidation; a grand challenge is to exploit this promising reactivity to develop new electrocatalysts for reversible electrooxidation. Mechanistic concepts that have been developed for chemical transfer hydrogenation catalysis will be used to guide the research and to devise new strategies to facilitate the proton and electron transfers that are critical to energy-efficient electrooxidation catalysis.
The energy-efficient conversion of chemical fuels into useful forms of energy is critical to our energy future. This work will provide new insights on strategies for extracting electrons from chemical fuels and the fundamental science that underlies anode electrocatalysts for fuel cells that convert chemical energy into electricity. Discoveries from this research will illuminate key principles in mediating the energy efficient conversion of chemical energy into useful forms of electrical energy. These new insights will not only inform the quest for more efficient fuel cell catalysts, but are central to all technologies that mediate the interconversion of electrical energy and chemical energy. In addition, the PI will contribute to develop a new generation of scientists with expertise in this economically relevant field.
