【Frontiers in HaiChuan Chemical Technology】The Team on Thermophysics under Extreme Conditions and Energy Systems at the School of Energy and Power Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, is working on hydrogen production through solar-driven methane dry reforming

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Recently, Professor Tang Dawei and Associate Professor Jiang Bo from the Team on Thermophysics under Extreme Conditions and Energy Systems at the School of Energy and Power Engineering of Dalian University of Technology made significant progress in the field of solar-driven dry reforming of methane for hydrogen production. The relevant findings were published in Advanced Materials (IF: 26.8) and Nature Communications (IF: 15.7), with our university being the sole corresponding institution in both publications. Finding 1: Solar-driven dry methane reforming provides an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly method for producing syngas. However, this technology still faces issues of low yield and poor stability at present. To address this, our team designed an electron pump catalyst with an asymmetric light-responsive structure, composed of ruthenium nanoclusters and nickel mon atoms. Under light exposure, it can regulate photo-generated electrons and overcome the unfavorable reducing environment, thereby maintaining the asymmetry in electron distribution. Under illumination, the electron pump catalyst achieved a syngas production rate of 4.70 mol gcat⁻¹ h⁻¹ at 500°C and a space velocity of 288,000 h⁻¹, which is about 5 times higher than that of existing technologies, while maintaining excellent stability for 1500 minutes. Experimental and computational studies show that this asymmetric structure, acting as an electron pump, can achieve directed electron transfer and suppress electron-hole recombination, thereby forming electron-rich ruthenium sites and electron-deficient nickel sites. This interface electronic configuration provides favorable sites for the activation of reactants and the formation of the key intermediate *CH3O, thereby improving reaction kinetics. This work opens up a new pathway for catalyst design in solar-driven reactions, and provides a mechanistic basis for improving electron transfer efficiency and facilitating reactant activation. The relevant findings were published in Advanced Materials under the title “Engineering an Electron Pump by Asymmetric Light-responsive Catalyst for Solar-driven Syngas Production”. Sima Wang, a doctoral student from the School of Energy and Power Engineering of our university, served as the first author, while Associate Professor Jiang Bo was the sole corresponding author. This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Paper link: https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.72821.