Contents:
Current societal transitions, including the change from fossil fuel-driven towards renewable based processes, require innovative (electrified) technologies for (drinking) water treatment and resource recovery. Furthermore, there is an increasing need for large-scale energy storage systems. This course will cover the fundamental aspects of electrochemical engineering, including the principles of an electrochemical cell, electrode processes and materials, transport mechanisms in (ion exchange) membranes, and electrochemical measurements. Furthermore, the course captures innovative and state-of-the-art electrochemical processes for water treatment, energy storage, resource recovery. We discuss the theory and application of (flow) batteries, supercapacitors, (microbial) fuel and electrolysis cells, and of electrochemical desalination, separation, disinfection, electroplating, and corrosion processes.
Learning outcomes:
After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:
- explain fundamentals/basics of electrochemical engineering, including faradaic and capacitive electrode processes, electro-interfacial phenomena, Nernst and Butler-Volmer theory, and important properties of electrolytes;
- interpret the dynamics of (bio-)electrochemical systems, including ion transport in (ion exchange) membranes (Nernst-Planck theory);
- characterize environmental (bio-)electrochemical systems based on experiments, data interpretation and calculations;
- evaluate the performance, potential and limitations of environmental electrochemical technologies;
- design an electrochemical process for water treatment, energy storage or resource recovery, taking into account the complex composition of (water) streams.
