Lively exchange of latest knowledge and ideas

Ifan Stephens illustrated how electrocatalysis and battery research mutually inform each other. ‘There is a growing need for an electrochemical alternative to the Haber-Bosch process. Yet, at the moment, there is no catalyst that works well enough. Even though we have made a lot of progress to date, a lot still needs to be done,’ he stated. Since there seems to be an advantageous role for lithium to improve the selectivity of electrochemical processes, Stephens sought collaborations with battery researchers to understand the role of lithium in electrochemistry. He is now working on batteries himself, probing degradation mechanisms and studying their energy efficiency and lifespan.

How to convert CO₂ into valuable chemicals and fuels was the central theme in this session. The speakers provided an extensive overview of work on The molecular enhancement of heterogeneous electrolysis in CO₂ conversion; Using AFM measurements to visualize dissolution-redeposition processes at copper-electrolyte interfaces during CO₂ reduction; The production of adipic acid from CO₂ and 1,3-butadiene; Bridging Fundamental In Situ Spectroscopy with Industrial Catalyst and Methods for CO₂ electroreduction; and Insights into the electrochemical reduction of CO₂ to formate via in-situ infrared spectroscopy.

‘I want to give you a flavor of the typical challenges battery researchers encounter,’ Marnix Wagemaker introduced his talk. He spoke about the 99,999 percent challenge, referring to the strive for batteries that loose only 0,001 percent of their electrons per cycle. Besides having an increased lifespan, next generation batteries also need to be safer, cheaper, have a lower environmental impact, and consist of less rare materials. Going into the two major failure mechanisms for batteries, being electrolyte decomposition and mechanochemical failure, Wagemaker illustrated with some of his own groups’ recent research results the complexity of searching for new battery materials.

The afternoon session on CO₂ conversions delved further into the challenges of turning waste gas into useful products, via presentations on the following topics: Exploring the electrochemical reduction of CO₂ on copper electrodes in organic solvent; Micro-scale modeling and process-limiting steps for Microbial Electrosynthesis (MES) for CO₂ conversion; Operando benchtop NMR quantifies carbonation, water crossover and liquid products for high-current eCO₂RR ; The Olympic challenge of reverse bias bipolar membranes in CO₂ electrolysis​; and Challenges of using impure feeds for CO₂ electrolysis.

Moderated by Mark Boneschanscher, panel members Earl Goetheer, Martijn de Graaff, Andrea Ramirez Ramirez and Moniek Tromp discussed what the Dutch chemical industry will look like in 2040. If anything, not the same as today, the panelists were convinced. Energy intensive industries may have left the country, we might import our chemical compounds and have transformed toward offering specialty services only, and electrochemistry will probably have replaced a lot of the current fossil based processes. But, since 2040 is tomorrow, above all it is speed that we need to achieve this much needed transformation, they concluded.