Sargent Group / en 'A fresh strategy': 老司机直播 researchers discover low-cost way to produce hydrogen from water /news/fresh-strategy-u-t-researchers-discover-low-cost-way-produce-hydrogen-water <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">'A fresh strategy': 老司机直播 researchers discover low-cost way to produce hydrogen from water</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/20181211-2B7A8937-catalyst-%28weblead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=n9yT_lUT 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/20181211-2B7A8937-catalyst-%28weblead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=xkQPWcBj 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/20181211-2B7A8937-catalyst-%28weblead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=ksgAwYeO 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/20181211-2B7A8937-catalyst-%28weblead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=n9yT_lUT" alt="photo of the catalyst in a plastic dish"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2018-12-13T12:49:34-05:00" title="Thursday, December 13, 2018 - 12:49" class="datetime">Thu, 12/13/2018 - 12:49</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"> Researchers in 老司机直播's Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering have discovered a new catalyst that lowers the amount of electricity required to split water into hydrogen and oxygen under pH-neutral conditions (photo by Tyler Irving)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/tyler-irving" hreflang="en">Tyler Irving</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sargent-group" hreflang="en">Sargent Group</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sustainable-energy" hreflang="en">Sustainable Energy</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>A new catalyst developed by University of Toronto researchers could make it cheaper and easier to produce hydrogen from water 鈥 a process some say is key to storing energy from renewable, but intermittent, sources like solar and wind.</p> <p>The new catalyst, developed in the lab of <a href="https://www.provost.utoronto.ca/awards-funding/university-professors/#section_2">University Professor&nbsp;</a><strong>Ted Sargent</strong>,&nbsp;uses abundant, low-cost elements to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen under conditions like those found in ordinary seawater.&nbsp;</p> <p>That, in turn, could make it feasible to use renewable electricity to produce hydrogen from water and then later reverse the process in an electrochemical fuel cell, resulting in clean power on demand.</p> <p>鈥淗ydrogen is a hugely important industrial feedstock, but unfortunately today it is derived overwhelmingly from fossil fuels, resulting in a large carbon footprint,鈥 says Sargent, who is the senior author of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-018-0296-8">a paper in <em>Nature Energy</em></a> that describes the new catalyst.</p> <p>鈥淓lectrolysis 鈥 water splitting to produce renewable hydrogen and oxygen 鈥 is a compelling technology, but it needs further improvements in efficiency, cost, and longevity.&nbsp;</p> <p>鈥淭his work offers a fresh strategy to pursue these critically important aims."</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__9819 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" height="453" src="/sites/default/files/20181211-catalyst-researchers-%28embed%29.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="680" loading="lazy"></p> <p><em>Pelayo Garcia De Arquer (left) and Cao Thang Dinh (right) examine a wafer coated in their new catalyst&nbsp;(photo by Tyler Irving)</em></p> <p>Sargent鈥檚 lab, in 老司机直播's Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,&nbsp;is among several research groups around the world racing to create catalysts that lower the amount of electricity needed to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Currently, the best-performing catalysts rely on platinum, a high-cost material, and operate under acidic conditions.</p> <p>鈥淥ur new catalyst is made from copper, nickel and chromium, which are all more abundant and less costly than platinum,鈥 says <strong>Cao Thang Dinh</strong>, a co-lead author on the paper along with his fellow postdoctoral researchers <strong>Pelayo Garcia De Arquer</strong> and <strong>Ankit Jain</strong>.&nbsp;</p> <p>鈥淏ut what鈥檚 most exciting is that it performs well under pH-neutral conditions, which opens up a number of possibilities.鈥</p> <p>Seawater, for example, is the most abundant source of water on earth, Dinh points out. But using seawater with traditional catalysts under acidic conditions would require the salt to be removed first, an energy-intensive process. Operating at neutral pH avoids the high cost of desalination.</p> <p>It could also enable the use of microorganisms to make chemicals such as methanol and ethanol. 鈥淭here are bacteria that can combine hydrogen and CO2 to make hydrocarbon fuels,鈥 says Garcia De Arquer. 鈥淭hey could grow in the same water and take up the hydrogen as it鈥檚 being made, but they cannot survive under acidic conditions.鈥</p> <p>Using renewable energy to convert waste CO2 into fuels or other value-added products is the goal of the NRG COSIA Carbon XPrize. A team from Sargent鈥檚 lab is among the five finalists in the international competition, vying for a US$7.5-million grand prize.</p> <p>In the paper, the team reports that the 鈥渙verpotential鈥 achieved with the new catalyst 鈥 the amount of electrical energy required to liberate the hydrogen from water 鈥 is the lowest ever observed under neutral conditions, though it still lags behind traditional platinum catalysts operated at acidic conditions.&nbsp;</p> <p>鈥淐reating hydrogen from water under neutral conditions is inherently tough&nbsp;鈥 it鈥檚 like trying to make an ice sculpture on a sunny day,鈥 says&nbsp;<strong>Phil De Luna</strong>, a PhD candidate in materials science and engineering and&nbsp;another of the study鈥檚 co-authors.&nbsp;</p> <p>鈥淎s far as we know, this catalyst is the best way to do it.鈥</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Thu, 13 Dec 2018 17:49:34 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 149006 at 老司机直播 startup QD Solar secures international financing /news/u-t-startup-qd-solar-secures-international-financing <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">老司机直播 startup QD Solar secures international financing</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-02-14-sargent-sized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=fe1Uh_3a 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-02-14-sargent-sized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=R3atVtFQ 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-02-14-sargent-sized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=o2BHOKbY 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-02-14-sargent-sized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=fe1Uh_3a" alt="photo of Ted Sargent in lab"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>lanthierj</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-02-14T08:17:43-05:00" title="Tuesday, February 14, 2017 - 08:17" class="datetime">Tue, 02/14/2017 - 08:17</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Ted Sargent (photo by Roberta Baker, courtesy Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-and-innovation" hreflang="en">Research and Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/entrepreneurship" hreflang="en">Entrepreneurship</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/startup" hreflang="en">Startup</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/solar" hreflang="en">Solar</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/ted-sargent" hreflang="en">Ted Sargent</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sargent-group" hreflang="en">Sargent Group</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/solar-cells" hreflang="en">Solar Cells</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/quantum-dots" hreflang="en">Quantum Dots</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/nanotechnology" hreflang="en">Nanotechnology</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>QD Solar, a Canadian startup co-founded by 老司机直播 researchers <strong>Ted Sargent</strong> and <strong>Sjoerd Hoogland</strong>, has received a big boost in funding and an important international nod to help bring its solar technology to market.</p> <p>On Monday, the company announced it had closed its first significant round of venture capital financing led by DSM Venturing, based in the Netherlands, with participation from existing investors, KAUST Innovation Fund and MaRS Innovation.</p> <p>Coupled with the $2.55 million the company received from Sustainable Development Technology Canada last March, QD Solar 鈥渉as the resources to advance, develop, test and de-risk our solar technology, while concurrently developing the manufacturing processes needed to bring this technology to market,鈥 said Dan Shea, CEO of QD Solar and a former senior executive with Celestica and BlackBerry, in <a href="http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/-2195507.htm">a news release</a>.</p> <p>QD Solar鈥檚 quantum dot-based solar cells use nano-engineered, low-cost materials that can absorb otherwise wasted infrared light. Solar panels with this technology can boost their overall power generation by 20 per cent, the company says.</p> <p>In the future, QD Solar says, it intends to develop quantum dot-based solar material that can be applied to any flexible surface to generate energy.</p> <p>The technology was developed in labs at 老司机直播 by Sargent, a <a href="http://www.provost.utoronto.ca/awards/uprofessors.htm">University Professor</a> in the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at 老司机直播 and Canada Research Chair in Nanotechnology, and Hoogland, director of research, technology and innovation at the Sargent Group.</p> <p>鈥淲e鈥檙e delighted to see QD Solar and this novel technology created at the University of Toronto receive this substantial investment from Canadian and international sources to advance their bold vision for a new clean energy product,鈥 said <strong>Derek Newton</strong>, 老司机直播鈥檚 assistant vice鈥損resident of innovation, partnerships and entrepreneurship.</p> <p>The startup was supported by MaRS Innovation and 老司机直播鈥檚 Innovations &amp; Partnership Office, which provided seed funding, patent protection and helped the company meet international industry partners and investors.</p> <p>Since 2011, 老司机直播 researchers have created more than 830 inventions, founded more than 90 research-based startups and generated $49 million from licensing revenues.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 14 Feb 2017 13:17:43 +0000 lanthierj 104960 at 老司机直播 team advances to next round of Carbon XPRIZE competition /news/u-t-team-advances-next-round-carbon-xprize-competition <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">老司机直播 team advances to next round of Carbon XPRIZE competition</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2016-11-23-carbonx-lead.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=zFmpiJ4d 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2016-11-23-carbonx-lead.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=ip1tQKUO 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2016-11-23-carbonx-lead.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=YGbx4eez 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2016-11-23-carbonx-lead.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=zFmpiJ4d" alt="Photo of "> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2016-11-23T17:08:22-05:00" title="Wednesday, November 23, 2016 - 17:08" class="datetime">Wed, 11/23/2016 - 17:08</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Alexander Ip and his 老司机直播 research team, led by Professor Ted Sargent has advanced to the second round of the $20-million Carbon XPRIZE competition (photo by Kevin Soobrian)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/kevin-soobrian" hreflang="en">Kevin Soobrian</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Kevin Soobrian</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sargent-group" hreflang="en">Sargent Group</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/ted-sargent" hreflang="en">Ted Sargent</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sustainability" hreflang="en">Sustainability</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/energy" hreflang="en">Energy</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>A team of researchers led by Professor <strong>Ted Sargent</strong> has moved on to the second round of the $20-million <a href="http://carbon.xprize.org/">NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE</a>. The international competition challenges teams to capture carbon-dioxide (CO2), a climate-warming greenhouse gas, from natural gas or coal power plant fuel&nbsp;emissions and convert it into valuable products.</p> <p>老司机直播鈥檚 multidisciplinary team, called Carbon Electrocatalytic Recycling Toronto (CERT), submitted a technique they developed earlier this year to convert CO2 to carbon-monoxide using electrocatalysis. For the&nbsp;competition entry, the team has altered that technique by using nanoparticle-based catalysts to produce formic acid, a substance commonly used as a preservative for animal feed and within the textile industry.</p> <p>鈥淏asically, you take some of the hydrogen from water and connect it into your CO2 molecule to make your formic acid,鈥 says <strong>Alexander Ip</strong>, director of research and partnerships for the Sargent Group. 鈥淏ut you can do different things. In principle, you can make any carbon-based product. The challenge is having the right materials to be able to selectively get what you want.鈥</p> <h3><a href="/news/converting-greenhouse-gas-something-good-u-t-researchers-recycle-carbon-dioxide">Read about the technique the team developed earlier this year</a></h3> <p>Ip also noted that the&nbsp;method could be instrumental in closing the carbon cycle. Sargent and an international team of collaborators developed a highly efficient method for storing energy in chemical form earlier this year, raising the potential for intermittent, renewable power sources like solar and wind. This clean and renewable electricity is then used to capture and convert CO2 into an asset.</p> <p>鈥淥ne thing that is emerging right now that we think is interesting is using formic acid as a hydrogen fuel cell material,鈥 says Ip.</p> <p>Instead of storing a gas in pressurized tanks, hydrogen is stored within the formic acid liquid and released from there. This allows hydrogen to be safely stored and easily transported in a liquid form.</p> <p>鈥淚t鈥檚 less developed, but we think it鈥檚 a way that the formic acid market might grow in the future,鈥 Ip says.</p> <p>The NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE launched last year, and CERT submitted its first round submission in July. They now have until August 2017 to prepare a&nbsp;submission for round two, in which teams must demonstrate an ability to scale their project. The team is currently working on less than a gram of CO2 in its&nbsp;experiments, but will have to reach a volume of 200 kilograms per day for round two.</p> <p>鈥淚t鈥檚 a big jump, and I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 something we would normally try to do in a year,鈥 Ip says. 鈥淏ut, that鈥檚 what XPRIZE does 鈥 it challenges you to go for it.鈥</p> <p>CERT chose formic acid as its product precisely because they anticipate that it will be easy to scale up, notes Ip. 鈥淥nce we鈥檝e gotten to scale, you can swap out the catalyst in your system to make a different product. It鈥檚 not quite that straightforward, but that鈥檚 the principle.鈥</p> <p>The team of 20 includes researchers from across the university, many of whom came together through a $1-million grant from the University of Toronto鈥檚 <a href="http://connaught.research.utoronto.ca/funding-opportunities/">Connaught Global Challenge Fund</a>. Nanoparticle expert Professor <strong>Eugenia Kumacheva</strong> from the department of chemistry and fluidics specialist Professor<strong> David Sinton</strong> from the department of mechanical &amp; industrial engineering are among the faculty members collaborating on the project.</p> <p>鈥淭ackling critical sustainability challenges requires collaboration across traditional disciplinary lines,鈥 says Sargent. 鈥淐ERT鈥檚 method holds incredible promise for practical implementation of carbon capture and conversion 鈥 that focus on applicability is at the core of the XPRIZE competition.鈥</p> <p>The next step, says Ip, is making varied and more complex products, such as ethylene, from CO2. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at how we can get two, or three, or more carbons linked together because that鈥檚 where you start getting more energy density and value in products.鈥</p> <p>Round 2 of the Carbon XPRIZE will be judged in late 2017, with the top five teams in the natural gas and coal power plant streams sharing $2.5 million in prize money and advancing to the final round. Finalists will apply their methods to real power plants and be evaluated by both the amount of CO2 they are able to convert, and the net value of their final product.</p> <p>鈥淚t鈥檚 a big challenge for us, but we want to see where it goes,鈥 says Ip. 鈥淲e think it鈥檚 a very important problem being addressed in this competition, and we鈥檙e happy to be a part of it.鈥</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Wed, 23 Nov 2016 22:08:22 +0000 ullahnor 102569 at