ABSTRACT

To increase the share of renewable zero-emission energy sources, such as wind and solar power, in our energy supply, the problem of their intermittency needs to be addressed. One way to do so is by buffering excess renewable energy via the production of hydrogen, which can be stored for later use after re-electrification. Such a clean, renewable energy cycle based on hydrogen is commonly referred to as the hydrogen economy. This review deals with cluster model systems of the three main components of the hydrogen economy, i.e. hydrogen generation, hydrogen storage and hydrogen re-electrification, and their basic physical principles. We then present examples of contemporary research on few atom clusters, both in the gas phase and deposited, to show that by studying these clusters as simplified models a mechanistic understanding of the underlying physical and chemical processes can be obtained. Such an understanding will inspire and enable the design of novel materials needed for advancing the hydrogen economy.

摘要

为了增加风能和太阳能等可再生零排放能源在我们的能源供应中所占的比例，需要解决其间歇性问题。一种方法是通过氢的产生来缓冲过量的可再生能源，氢可以存储起来，以便在重新充电后用于以后的使用。这种基于氢的清洁，可再生能源循环通常称为氢经济。这篇综述涉及氢经济的三个主要组成部分的集群模型系统，即氢产生，氢存储和氢再电化，以及它们的基本物理原理。然后，我们提供有关气相和沉积状态下几个原子团簇的当代研究实例，以表明通过将这些团簇作为简化模型进行研究，可以获得对基本物理和化学过程的机械理解。这样的理解将启发并使得设计能够促进氢经济的新型材料成为可能。