(494g) Increasing Student Engagement in Chemistry Via Incorporation of a Catalyst Design in-Class Activity

While students in introductory chemistry classes at both the high school and undergraduate levels are often highly engaged when discussing topics such as climate change, there is an obvious disconnect between such grand challenges and how the fundamental chemistry topics and research apply to such challenges. This disconnect between the topics discussed in class and their application to worldwide challenges discourages students from participating in class. Thus, it is of critical importance to engage students in open-ended and design-based problem-solving with chemistry.

Here, we present two case studies, one at the high school level and one at the undergraduate level, of an open-ended and design-based problem-solving approach implemented in chemistry classrooms using the topic of heterogeneous catalyst design for hydrogen fuel cells. Hydrogen fuel cells are an emerging technology that produce electricity from hydrogen oxidation to water. Such a process is environmentally beneficial due to the lack of the carbon-based byproducts that are currently contributing to ever-harshening climate change consequences. However, a major drawback of hydrogen fuel cells is the catalyst material required for such a process, i.e. Pt. This provides a concrete research question to engage high school students with: how can we replace the expensive and unsustainable Pt catalyst in hydrogen fuel cells?

To address this research question, we have developed a catalyst design graphical user interface, named Computational Catalysis Design Interface (CCDI), and two lesson plans (high school and undergraduate) that enable students to explore and design new materials for an emerging carbon-free route to produce energy. This presentation will show you how to engage students in their exploration of the core concepts related to hydrogen fuel cells, heterogeneous catalysts, the influence of catalyst properties on performance, and how key chemistry concepts (i.e. thermodynamics) can be applied. Through this activity, students gain hands-on experience in applying the scientific method to today's critical challenges as well as begin to see themselves as a scientist.