Electrolysis for Electrochemical Fuels and Electrochemical Water Treatment

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The "cleantech sector" is expected to be the third largest global industrial sector by 2020 with a global market size of over 3 trillion dollars, with a significant potential to increase Canadian revenues and employment. This proposal builds upon the research in the Wilkinson program that has been highly productive and successful to date. The research has created an important focused research cluster at the University of British Columbia which has resulted in national and international collaboration, and helped to establish UBC as a leading academic research institute in this area. The research objectives for this proposal are primarily related to the research and development of electrochemical energy conversion and electrochemical processes to create cleaner and more sustainable energy, and a more sustainable environment. This project research focuses on low temperature polymer electrolyte membrane technology for advanced electrolysis and electrochemical water and waste treatment applications. This research is important for a number of industrial sectors including electric grid management (power to gas), electrification of transportation, renewables, waste treatment and conversion, and oil and gas. An example, would be the recently formed company from the Wilkinson group, Mangrove Water Technologies, which is based on electrolysis and electrodialysis. This technology couples desalination with gaseous CO2 mitigation / conversion to produce useful on-site chemicals for the oil and gas sector. In general, the research objective is to reduce performance losses and cost, and improve durability and operational flexibility for membrane electrolysis primarily focused on hydrogen production and chemical electrosynthesis. Another important objective related to electrolysis is the ability to increase the potential for water splitting and to improve selectivity for electrosynthesis, so other important oxidation reactions can occur for water treatment and the production of chemicals. The proposal is divided into two key areas: i) advancement of low temperature electrolysis for hydrogen production and for water treatment, and ii) high oxidation potential (HOP) electrodes for waste water and drinking water treatment .