Atomic Layer Deposition for Advanced Materials Development in Electrochemical Energy Research

开发具有成本竞争力、高效、环保的能源转换和储存技术是一项重大的全球性挑战。燃料电池可以通过高效、清洁地将燃料转化为电力来满足这一需求，而电池和超级电容器设备可以为智能电网和运输应用储存能量。然而，由于其储能容量低、组件和制造成本高、运行耐久性差，其可持续商业化和部署仍然受到高度限制。这些电化学能量系统的耐久性、性能和容量取决于纳米材料基催化剂的均匀性和结构。原子层沉积（ALD）为精确控制催化剂和电极材料的组成和结构提供了一种新的方法。ALD是一个自我限制的过程，每次循环后都会形成单一的单层。这种方法能够创造出独特的薄膜或纳米结构粒子和层，这些粒子和层可以被精心设计，以利用和扩展围绕原子结构对功能材料性能和耐久性影响的基本知识；导致新型燃料电池、电池和超级电容器材料具有很高的应用和商业化潜力。所要求的ALD系统将进一步为在快速发展的可持续能源技术领域工作的学生提供宝贵的培训机会，并将加速陈博士和我们的电化学能源系统团队以及滑铁卢大学工程和科学学科的其他研究人员所承担的项目。

The development of cost-competitive, highly efficient, and environmentally benign energy conversion and storage technologies is a major global challenge. Fuel cells can meet this demand by efficiently and cleanly converting fuels to electricity, while batteries and supercapacitor devices can store energy for smart grid and transportation applications. However, sustainable commercialization and deployment still remains highly limited by their low energy storage capacities, high component and manufacturing costs, and their poor operational durability. The durability, performance and capacity of these electrochemical energy systems depend on the uniformity and structure of nanomaterial-based catalysts. Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) presents a new way to precisely control both the composition and structure of catalyst and electrode materials. ALD is a self-limiting process, resulting in the formation of single monolayers after every cycle. This method is able to create unique thin films or nanostructured particles and layers that can be deliberately designed to capitalize on and expand the fundamental knowledge surrounding the effect of atomic structure on functional material performance and durability; leading to novel fuel cell, battery and supercapacitor materials that have high application and commercialization potential. The requested ALD system will furthermore provide an invaluable training opportunity for students working in the rapidly emerging field of sustainable energy technologies, and will accelerate projects undertaken by Dr. Chen and our electrochemical energy system team and other researchers working in engineering and science disciplines at the University of Waterloo.