Microfluidic devices for higher throughput electrosynthesis and flow battery characterization

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Preventing further global warming is an urgent issue for Canada and the world. Addressing it will require accomplishing two broad goals: (1) reducing future CO2 emissions, and (2) removing atmospheric CO2 to offset unavoidable emissions that remain. The proposed research program addresses both challenges by accelerating research methods for sustainable energy storage and for electrochemical conversion of CO2 to value-added products. The adoption of solar and wind energy technology can effectively reduce CO2 emissions. Yet, cost-effective storage of electricity is currently the major bottleneck to the widespread adoption of these technologies. Flow batteries are a promising emerging solution for grid electricity storage but require cheaper and longer-lasting electrolytes to be commercially viable. The first objective of the proposed research is to expedite flow battery development by enabling more comprehensive and higher throughput testing to provide better quality data and a faster learning rate. This will be achieved by the development of cost-effective electrochemical diagnostic devices to track electrolyte properties during battery operation and thereby help to understand and prevent battery failure. Accelerated testing of new flow battery electrolytes will allow researchers to quickly identify those with the potential for the 20-year service life required for commercial grid storage of solar and wind energy. For unavoidable CO2 emissions, producing value-added chemicals from CO2 is the most direct way to turn an environmental challenge into an economic opportunity. The second objective of the proposed research is to accelerate materials discovery for the conversion of CO2 to commercially valuable chemicals. This will be achieved through the design and fabrication of electrochemical reactors with integrated sensors optimized for real-time monitoring and control of reaction conditions. Reliable reactors will allow materials and chemical engineering researchers to quickly benchmark catalysts and to identify commercially viable reaction-catalyst combinations. In turn, achieving proven methods for the transformation of CO2 will stimulate Canada's innovation economy and position the country as a leader in green chemistry. Demonstrating the viability of these research methods will help shift the materials and chemical engineering field towards automated approaches that will accelerate materials discovery even more broadly.