Single Atom Catalysts on Chalcogenide Supports Through Intense Pulsed Light (RPA Pilot or Seed Project)

Heterogeneous metal catalysts are the most used type of catalyst used industrially. Unfortunately, the metal catalyst particle size distribution and metal catalyst dispersion within the support are difficult to control with current synthesis protocols. One especially important type of reaction is the hydrogen evolution reaction, which will are useful in water electrolyzer devices. To make meaningful improvements to the gold standard material (20% Pt/C), the metal catalyst should be reduced as much as possible while increasing the catalyst loading in the support as much as possible. Accordingly, the ideal catalyst would then be single atom catalysts that could be dispersed inn the support at high catalyst loadings. Our project will accomplish both of these goals through the intense pulsed light annealing of Pt (IV) precursors. We’ll study catalyst size and dispersion using a systematic approach that would be completely novel and a remarkable advance on current materials for the hydrogen evolution reaction. We will use the preliminary results from this project to obtain external funding from federal sources in the 2024 calendar year.