Atomic Layer Deposition for Advanced Materials Development in Electrochemical Energy Research

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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.