We describe and analyze the efficiency of a new solar-thermochemical reactor concept, which employs a moving packed bed of reactive particles produce of H2 or CO from solar energy and H2O or CO2. The packed bed reactor incorporates several features essential to achieving high efficiency: spatial separation of pressures, temperature, and reaction products in the reactor; solid–solid sensible heat recovery between reaction steps; continuous on-sun operation; and direct solar illumination of the working material. Our efficiency analysis includes material thermodynamics and a detailed accounting of energy losses, and demonstrates that vacuum pumping, made possible by the innovative pressure separation approach in our reactor, has a decisive efficiency advantage over inert gas sweeping. We show that in a fully developed system, using CeO2 as a reactive material, the conversion efficiency of solar energy into H2 and CO at the design point can exceed 30%. The reactor operational flexibility makes it suitable for a wide range of operating conditions, allowing for high efficiency on an annual average basis. The mixture of H2 and CO, known as synthesis gas, is not only usable as a fuel but is also a universal starting point for the production of synthetic fuels compatible with the existing energy infrastructure. This would make it possible to replace petroleum derivatives used in transportation in the U.S., by using less than 0.7% of the U.S. land area, a roughly two orders of magnitude improvement over mature biofuel approaches. In addition, the packed bed reactor design is flexible and can be adapted to new, better performing reactive materials.

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Widespread adoption of solar-thermochemical fuel production depends on its economic viability, largely driven by the efficiency of use of the available solar resource. Herein, we analyze the efficiency of two-step cycles for thermochemical hydrogen production, with emphasis on efficiency. Owing to water thermodynamics, isothermal H2 production is shown to be impractical and inefficient, irrespective of reactor design or reactive oxide properties, but an optimal temperature difference between cycle steps, for which efficiency is the highest, can be determined for a wide range of other operating parameters. A combination of well-targeted pressure and temperature swing, rather than either individually, emerges as the most efficient mode of operation of a two-step thermochemical cycle for solar fuel production.

The adsorption and decomposition of ammonia and hydrogen have been studied on surfaces of clean planar Ir(210) and clean nanoscale-faceted Ir(210), which are prepared from the same crystal in situ. We find evidence for structure sensitivity in recombination and desorption of H2 and in thermal decomposition of NH3 on clean planar Ir(210) versus clean faceted Ir(210). Moreover, the decomposition kinetics of NH3 on faceted Ir(210) exhibit size effects on the nanometer scale, which is the first observation of size effects in surface chemistry on an unsupported monometallic catalyst with controlled and well-defined structure and size.

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We report results on the catalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide (CO) over clean Ir surfaces that are prepared reversibly from the same crystal in situ with different surface morphologies, from planar to nanometer-scale facets of specific crystal orientations and various sizes. Our temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) data show that both planar Ir(210) and faceted Ir(210) are very active for CO oxidation to form CO2. Preadsorbed oxygen promotes the oxidation of CO, whereas high coverages of preadsorbed CO poison the reaction by blocking the surface sites for oxygen adsorption. At low coverages of preadsorbed oxygen (< or = 0.3 ML of O), the temperature Ti for the onset of CO2 desorption decreases with increasing CO coverage. At high coverages of preadsorbed oxygen (> 0.5 ML of O), T(i) is < 330 K and is independent of CO coverage. Moreover, we find clear evidence for structure sensitivity in CO oxidation over clean planar Ir(210) versus that over clean faceted Ir(210): the CO2 desorption rate is sensitive to the surface morphological differences. However, no evidence has been found for size effects in CO oxidation over faceted Ir(210) for average facet size ranging from 5 to 14 nm. Energetically favorable binding sites for O/Ir(210) are characterized using density functional theory (DFT) calculations.

The adsorption and reaction of acetylene on both planar and faceted Ir(210) have been studied utilizing temperature-programmed desorption (TPD), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), and high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS). Following adsorption of C2H2 at 300 K or 100 K, TPD data indicate that H2 is the dominant desorption product, and that decomposition of adsorbed C2H2 occurs in a stepwise fashion. Multiple carbon-containing species are formed on Ir(210) upon adsorption of acetylene at high coverage, which are different from those formed at low coverage. Our HREELS results show that the dominant surface hydrocarbon species formed at high coverage are mainly acetylide and ethylidyne while acetylide dominates at low coverage. In contrast to reaction measurements on an Ir organometallic complex that catalyzes cyclization of C2H2 to C6H6, no evidence for the cyclization reaction is found on Ir(210). The results are compared with adsorption and decomposition of C6H6 on Ir(210); as for C2H2, the dominant desorption product is H2, but there are differences in the reaction sequence. In addition, evidence has been found in TPD measurements for structure sensitivity in decomposition of acetylene over the clean faceted Ir(210) surface versus the clean planar Ir(210) surface, which is attributed to nanometer scale structures on the faceted surface. The HREELS data give complementary information to TPD and AES results and provide insights into the reaction mechanisms for acetylene surface chemistry.

Here, we present a combined experimental and Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) modeling study on the adsorption of iodine in three classes of nanoporous materials: activated charcoals, zeolites, and metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). Iodine adsorption profiles were measured for the first time in situ, with a uniquely designed sorption apparatus. It was determined that pore size and pore environment are responsible for a dynamic adsorption profile, correlated with distinct pressure ranges. At pressures below 0.3 atm, iodine adsorption is governed by a combination of small pores and extra-framework components (e.g., Ag+ ions in the zeolite mordenite). At regimes above 0.3 atm, the amount of iodine gas stored relates with an increase in pore size and specific surface area. GCMC results validate the trends noted experimentally and in addition provide a measure of the strength of the adsorbate–adsorbent interactions in these materials.