Superaerophobic porous 3D catalytic electrodes for water splitting

电解放气反应(GERS)在许多电化学反应和过程中都是重要的，如碱性水和氯电解。这种电化学过程的效率取决于对电催化材料的适当选择，这种材料可以在尽可能低的过电位下实现高反应速率(即高电流密度)。然而，在电极表面形成的附着气泡会减少催化剂表面与反应物之间的接触，增加欧姆降，从而对电池性能产生不利影响。这项提议的首要目标是通过电极表面的纳米工程来促进对气泡的被动管理。因此，将以减小气泡尺寸、粘附力和停留时间为目标，对电极表面纳米形貌的影响进行全面的研究。这将通过添加剂制造方法实现，利用我们的工业合作伙伴(NRC-Boucherville、Centerline和Vac Aero)的专业知识，目的是发展新知识并找到适当的方法来大规模生产电极，并改进被动气泡管理，以整合到上述市场的制造产品中，如与氢基公司合作的电解水器。在操作参数方面，改进GER电极上的气泡管理将有几个好处：(I)大大减少气体覆盖；(2)增强局部传热/传质系数，从而允许更高的电流密度操作；(3)使用气泡流和气举来最大限度地减少近零间隙电化学电池中外部流体管理的寄生损耗，从而减少过电位，增加电流密度，并提高整体工艺效率。共培训10名HQP，其中博士2名，硕士2名，博士2名，本科生4名。

Electrolytic gas evolution reactions (GERs) are important in numerous electrochemical reactions and processes like alkaline water and chlorine electrolysis. The efficiency of such electrochemical processes depend on the proper choice of electrocatalytic materials that can achieve high reaction rates (i.e. high current densities) at the lowest possible overpotential. However, the formation of adhering bubbles at the electrode surface has a detrimental effect on the cell performance by decreasing the contact between the catalyst surface and the reactants, as well as increasing the ohmic drop. The overarching goal of this proposal is to foster passive management of bubbles through nano-engineering of the electrode surface. Thus, a comprehensive study of the effect of nano-morphology of the electrode surface will be undertaken with the objectives of decreasing bubble size, adhesion force and residence time. This will be achieved using additive manufacturing approach leveraging the expertise of our industrial partners (NRC-Boucherville, Centerline and Vac Aero) with the objective of developing new knowledge AND identifying a proper way to mass produce electrodes with improved passive gas bubbles management on scales required for integration into manufacturing products for said markets like water electrolysers in conjunction with Hydrogenics. In terms of operating parameters, improved management of gas bubbles at GER electrodes will have several benefits: (i) strong diminution of gas blanketing; (2) enhance local heat/mass transfer coefficients, therefore permitting higher current density operation, and (3) use of bubble flow and gas lift to minimize parasitic losses from external fluid management in near-zero gap electrochemical cells that will translate into reduced overpotentials, increased current density, and higher overall process efficiency. A total of 10 HQPs are going to be trained, including 2PhDs, 2MScs, 2PDFs and 4 undergraduates.