时间：2013年7月24日星期二 09:00-11:00

地点：能源基础（5号楼）二楼会议室

报告人： Xiao-Dong Zhou

报告人单位：Department of Chemical Engineering

　　　 University of South Carolina

报告摘要：

Rising emissions of CO2 in the atmosphere have become increasingly concerning in recent years as they are likely linked to global warming, yet these emissions are the byproduct of the majority of essential energy sources in place today (e.g. fossil fuels). In addition to efforts to capture and store CO2 in hopes of relieving the greenhouse effect, the conversion of CO2 to fuels and chemical feedstock is an attractive proposition that may provide an alternative solution to both the current energy crisis and climate issues. Obtaining liquid fuels from carbon dioxide is not in itself a new concept but the field has not substantially advanced in the last 30 years due largely to its lack of chemical reactivity. In this presentation, I will discuss a design of a full electrochemical cell based on the PEMFC configuration by inserting a circulating liquid-phase electrolyte buffer layer between the Nafion membrane and Sn electrode. This design demonstrates the feasibility to use current PEMFC hardware for electrochemical CO2 conversion. This bench-scale full electrochemical cell precedes a future pilot-scale demonstration plant to generate fuels from CO2 reduction. I will discuss the effects of the electrolyte in terms of the nature of the cations, the anions, and concentration to better understand the mechanisms of its effects on the faradaic efficiency. In addition, the durability of the electrode during the cell operation will be discussed. 

报告人简介：

Dr. Zhou is an Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering Department at the University of South Carolina. Prior to that, he was a Senior Research Scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), a US-DOE Lab in Washington, which he joined in August 2005 after two-year experience as an Assistant Research Professor at Missouri University of Science and Technology (MS&T). At MS&T, as an associate faculty member, he led research programs and supervised graduate students. At PNNL, Dr. Zhou was leading research on oxygen electrodes for solid oxide fuel cells and thermoelectric oxides. His academic career has been highlighted by 80 research articles that span the areas of structural, transport, and magnetic properties of condensed matters, nonstoichiometric chemistry, advanced synthesis, and device physics. In addition, he has published 8 invited book chapters, contributed to over 100 presentations; and received 6 US patents/disclosures.

Dr. Zhou received J. B. Wagner Jr. Young Investigator Award in 2007 from the Electrochemistry Society (ECS) - High Temperature Materials (HTM) and the 2011 US DOD – DARPA Young Faculty Award. He is Vice Chair and an Executive Committee member of HTM Division of ECS; and organized several symposia for the ECS. He has served on several program review panels and reviewed proposals for National Science Foundation, Petroleum Research Foundation, Basic Energy Science-DOE, US DoD, and SECA-DOE. Dr. Zhou is an associate editor of the Journal of the American Ceramic Society. Dr. Zhou was selected by the National Academy of Engineering to participate in the Indo-American Frontiers of Engineering held in Agra, India (2010). He was an invited presenter for a number of scientific conferences and research institutes.