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.
“This type of reaction is needed to move from fossil fuels to more carbon-neutral fuel sources,” said Hyunho Noh, OU assistant professor and principal investigator of the study. “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.
“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,” Noh said. “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.
“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,” Lander said.
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.
“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,” Noh said.
Learn more about energy research being conducted by the Noh Research Group.
About the project
“Electrochemically Determined and Structurally Justified Thermochemistry of H atom Transfer on Ti-Oxo Nodes of the Colloidal Metal-Organic Framework Ti-MIL-125” is published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, DOI no. 10.1021/jacs.4c10421. Noh is an assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry in the OU Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences. Additional support was provided by Yihan Shao from OU and Ayman Rosland and Jiaqi Yu from Northwestern University. Financial support was provided by the University of Oklahoma Libraries and the OU Office of the Vice President for Research and Partnerships.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. For more information about the university, visit www.ou.edu.
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