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Highlights during the development of electrochemical engineering

Highlights during the development of electrochemical engineering
Highlights during the development of electrochemical engineering
Over the last century, electrochemical engineering has contributed significantly to societal progress by enabling development of industrial processes for manufacturing chemicals, such as chlorine and the Nylon precursor adiponitrile, as well as a wide range of metals including aluminium and zinc. In 2011, ca. 17 M tonne Cu p.a. was electro-refined to 99.99%+ purity required by electrical and electronic engineering applications, such as for electrodepositing with exquisite resolution multi-layer interconnections in microprocessors. Surface engineering is widely practised industrially e.g. to protect steels against corrosion e.g. by electroplating nickel or using more recent novel self-healing coatings. Complex shapes of hard alloys that are difficult to machine can be fabricated by selective dissolution in electrochemical machining processes. Electric fields can be used to drive desalination of brackish water for urban supplies and irrigation by electrodialysis with ion-permeable membranes; such fields can also be used in electrokinetic soil remediation processes. Rising concerns about the consequences of CO2 emissions has led to the rapidly increasing development and deployment of renewable energy systems, the intermittency of which can be mitigated by energy storage in e.g. redox flow batteries for stationary storage and novel lithium batteries with increased specific energies for powering electric vehicles, or when economically viable, in electrolyser-fuel cells. The interface between electrochemical technology and biotechnology is also developing rapidly, with applications such as microbial fuel cells. Some of these applications are reviewed, the challenges assessed and current trends elucidated in the very active area of Chemical Engineering bordering with material science and electrochemistry
0263-8762
1998-2020
Bebelis, S.
cbe96883-b9b0-4866-8853-94b9e4c8d0d5
Bouzek, K.
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Cornell, A.
6b8d9eeb-2968-418e-ac48-c9bf47c48718
Ferreira, M.G.S.
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Kelsall, G.H.
0146303b-b59a-47ff-adbb-d67c02201265
Lapicque, F.
818a7612-7dff-4ef1-a106-8946bce3d0e7
Ponce de Leon, Carlos
508a312e-75ff-4bcb-9151-dacc424d755c
Rodrigo, M.A.
878d59bb-d3e6-4c4a-8ef3-ec6bb676e82b
Walsh, F.C.
309528e7-062e-439b-af40-9309bc91efb2
Bebelis, S.
cbe96883-b9b0-4866-8853-94b9e4c8d0d5
Bouzek, K.
4c5c8d31-f490-4f4d-b3f3-4a07ad356b36
Cornell, A.
6b8d9eeb-2968-418e-ac48-c9bf47c48718
Ferreira, M.G.S.
3b2b8551-7520-4d82-bbb4-7be046795aae
Kelsall, G.H.
0146303b-b59a-47ff-adbb-d67c02201265
Lapicque, F.
818a7612-7dff-4ef1-a106-8946bce3d0e7
Ponce de Leon, Carlos
508a312e-75ff-4bcb-9151-dacc424d755c
Rodrigo, M.A.
878d59bb-d3e6-4c4a-8ef3-ec6bb676e82b
Walsh, F.C.
309528e7-062e-439b-af40-9309bc91efb2

Bebelis, S., Bouzek, K., Cornell, A., Ferreira, M.G.S., Kelsall, G.H., Lapicque, F., Ponce de Leon, Carlos, Rodrigo, M.A. and Walsh, F.C. (2013) Highlights during the development of electrochemical engineering. [in special issue: The 60th Anniversary of the European Federation of Chemical Engineering (EFCE)] Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 91 (10), 1998-2020. (doi:10.1016/j.cherd.2013.08.029).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Over the last century, electrochemical engineering has contributed significantly to societal progress by enabling development of industrial processes for manufacturing chemicals, such as chlorine and the Nylon precursor adiponitrile, as well as a wide range of metals including aluminium and zinc. In 2011, ca. 17 M tonne Cu p.a. was electro-refined to 99.99%+ purity required by electrical and electronic engineering applications, such as for electrodepositing with exquisite resolution multi-layer interconnections in microprocessors. Surface engineering is widely practised industrially e.g. to protect steels against corrosion e.g. by electroplating nickel or using more recent novel self-healing coatings. Complex shapes of hard alloys that are difficult to machine can be fabricated by selective dissolution in electrochemical machining processes. Electric fields can be used to drive desalination of brackish water for urban supplies and irrigation by electrodialysis with ion-permeable membranes; such fields can also be used in electrokinetic soil remediation processes. Rising concerns about the consequences of CO2 emissions has led to the rapidly increasing development and deployment of renewable energy systems, the intermittency of which can be mitigated by energy storage in e.g. redox flow batteries for stationary storage and novel lithium batteries with increased specific energies for powering electric vehicles, or when economically viable, in electrolyser-fuel cells. The interface between electrochemical technology and biotechnology is also developing rapidly, with applications such as microbial fuel cells. Some of these applications are reviewed, the challenges assessed and current trends elucidated in the very active area of Chemical Engineering bordering with material science and electrochemistry

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Published date: 10 October 2013
Organisations: Engineering Science Unit

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 364892
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/364892
ISSN: 0263-8762
PURE UUID: 0ceea172-5dba-463a-9a96-ce48b33a09e1
ORCID for Carlos Ponce de Leon: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1907-5913

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Date deposited: 16 May 2014 08:08
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:22

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Contributors

Author: S. Bebelis
Author: K. Bouzek
Author: A. Cornell
Author: M.G.S. Ferreira
Author: G.H. Kelsall
Author: F. Lapicque
Author: M.A. Rodrigo
Author: F.C. Walsh

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