Center for Functional Nanomaterials Seminar

The need to decouple industrial processes from fossil energy sources only grows more urgent with the fast increase in global energy demand and the multiple global initiatives to mitigate climate change. Chemical manufacturing, already responsible for 26% of the world energy demand, is highly energy-intensive as it requires large amounts of heat derived from fossil sources to drive thermochemical processes. On the other hand, emerging electrochemical processes which require electricity rather than heat, have continued to gain traction as an avenue towards the integration of renewable energy sources in the chemical industry. Electrochemical processes allow to directly interconvert clean electricity, from solar or wind, into chemical energy and high-value products. This presentation will present opportunities in materials and reactor design for mass-transport improvements in fuel-cells and organic electrochemical reactors. First, I will discuss strategies to molecularly tune perfluorinated ion-conducting polymers to enhance oxygen transport in fuel cell catalyst layers and potentially impact the clean transportation sector. I will then discuss how designing efficient organic electrochemical systems may result into more sustainable production of high-value polymeric materials. Specifically, I will present our work on understanding and improving the electrohydrodimerization process for the production of adiponitrile (ADN), a precursor to Nylon 6,6. Although this model reaction is the largest and most successful organic electrosynthesis implemented in industry, it faces many challenges owing to its limited energy conversion and selectivity. Through a combination of experimental electroanalytical characterization and machine learning, we elucidate guidelines for the optimal operation of ADN electrosynthetic reactors. Our results provide insights into mass transport limitations that affect the selectivity of organic electrosynthesis processes and on how to control electrode