CNR-CNPq Bilateral Project
Title: Development of Innovative Nonprecious Catalysts for Water Electrolysis, Direct Ethanol Fuel Cells and Photocatalysis (IDEA).
ICCOM Principal Investigator: Maria Caporali.
Project type: International.
Duration: 01/02/2025 – 31/01/2027.
Abstract: The first aim of the project is to develop an innovative water electrolyser technology based on noble metals-free PEM integrated with renewable energy generation systems for H2 production. The innovative propositions include: i) developing a simplified and cost-effective manufacturing route, using high-power physical vapor deposition (PVD) processes like DC Magnetron Sputtering and HiPIMS, for keycomponents crucial to the operation of the PEM electrolyser; ii) Eliminating noble metals loading in the preparation of catalyst-coated membranes (CCMs); iii) Investigating the performance of DC Magnetron Sputtering and HiPIMS processes for the assembly of the PEMelectrolyser; iv) development of sustainable experimental protocols for transforming viticulture waste into advanced hybrid biomass-derived graphitic-carbon nanocomposites (GPC) to create high-performance electrocatalysts.
Secondly, the project IDEA aims to decore microporous GPC with Fe, Nb and/or Ni NPs to design advanced catalysts for DEFC and improve EtOR process. Regarding the ORR process, cathodic electrocatalysts without precious metals and based on microporous g-C3N4 films decorated with Fe, Nb and/or Ni NPs will be developed and explored. Finally, the photocatalytic HER process will be investigated by using metal oxides (ZnO, Nb2O5 and NiO) and noble-metal free perovskites that do not contain critical raw materials and are not toxic as p-type semiconductor perovskites (La-Sr-Mn-O, La-Sr-Fe-Nb-O) that will be prepared by magnetron sputtering onto N-doped g-C3N4 films.
Coordinator: Dr. Chiara Ingrosso (CNR-IPCF Bari).
Partnership: CNR (CNR-ICCOM, CNR-IPCF, CNR-NANOTEC) and Center for Research and Analysis of Engineering Materials (CEPAME), Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Brazil (Dr. Haroldo Cavalcanti Pinto).
ICCOM participants: Marco Bellini, Werner Oberhauser, Maria Caporali.
Financed by: CNR and CNPq.
Project overall budget: 20.000 €.
ICCOM budget: 3.600 €.
CUP: B93C24002130001.