An electrochemical cell is a device that generates electrical energy from chemical reactions. Electrical energy can also be applied to these cells to cause chemical reactions to occur. Electrochemical cells that generate an electric current are called voltaic or galvanic cells and those that generate chemical reactions, via electrolysis for example, are called electrolytic cells.
A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel and an oxidizing agent into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requiring a continuous source of fuel and oxygen to sustain the chemical reaction, whereas in a battery the chemical energy usually comes from substances that are already present in the battery. Fuel cells can produce electricity continuously for as long as fuel and oxygen are supplied.
In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a technique that uses direct electric current (DC) to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction. Electrolysis is commercially important as a stage in the separation of elements from naturally occurring sources such as ores using an electrolytic cell. The voltage that is needed for electrolysis to occur is called the decomposition potential. The word "lysis" means to separate or break, so in terms, electrolysis would mean "breakdown via electricity."
The Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), also known as "l'université du peuple", established in 1969 and mainly located in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada, is a public university within the Université du Québec network. As of April 2016, the university had 14,500 students in 9 different campuses, including the main one in Trois-Rivières. About 788 of them come from overseas, from 50 countries. The university has given more than 88,000 diplomas since its founding. The Trois-Rivières campus also holds a large library with about 400,000 documents.
A regenerative fuel cell or reverse fuel cell (RFC) is a fuel cell run in reverse mode, which consumes electricity and chemical B to produce chemical A. By definition, the process of any fuel cell could be reversed. However, a given device is usually optimized for operating in one mode and may not be built in such a way that it can be operated backwards. Standard fuel cells operated backwards generally do not make very efficient systems unless they are purpose-built to do so as with high-pressure electrolysers, regenerative fuel cells, solid-oxide electrolyser cells and unitized regenerative fuel cells.
Proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), also known as polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells, are a type of fuel cell being developed mainly for transport applications, as well as for stationary fuel-cell applications and portable fuel-cell applications. Their distinguishing features include lower temperature/pressure ranges and a special proton-conducting polymer electrolyte membrane. PEMFCs generate electricity and operate on the opposite principle to PEM electrolysis, which consumes electricity. They are a leading candidate to replace the aging alkaline fuel-cell technology, which was used in the Space Shuttle.
A proton-exchange membrane, or polymer-electrolyte membrane (PEM), is a semipermeable membrane generally made from ionomers and designed to conduct protons while acting as an electronic insulator and reactant barrier, e.g. to oxygen and hydrogen gas. This is their essential function when incorporated into a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) of a proton-exchange membrane fuel cell or of a proton-exchange membrane electrolyser: separation of reactants and transport of protons while blocking a direct electronic pathway through the membrane.
A flow battery, or redox flow battery, is a type of electrochemical cell where chemical energy is provided by two chemical components dissolved in liquids that are pumped through the system on separate sides and in opposite direction of a membrane. Ion transfer inside the cell occurs through the membrane while both liquids circulate in their own respective space. Cell voltage is chemically determined by the Nernst equation and ranges, in practical applications, from 1.0 to 2.43 volts. The energy capacity is a function of the electrolyte volume and the power is a function of the surface area of the electrodes.
Electrolysis of water is using electricity to split water into oxygen and hydrogen gas by electrolysis. Hydrogen gas released in this way can be used as hydrogen fuel, but must be kept apart from the oxygen as the mixture would be extremely explosive. Separately pressurised into convenient 'tanks' or 'gas bottles', hydrogen can be used for oxyhydrogen welding and other applications, as the hydrogen / oxygen flame can reach approximately 2,800°C.
Hydrogen gas is produced by several industrial methods. Nearly all of the world's current supply of hydrogen is created from fossil fuels. Most hydrogen is gray hydrogen made through steam methane reforming. In this process, hydrogen is produced from a chemical reaction between steam and methane, the main component of natural gas. Producing one tonne of hydrogen through this process emits 6.6–9.3 tonnes of carbon dioxide. When carbon capture and storage is used to remove a large fraction of these emissions, the product is known as blue hydrogen.
Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a type of bioelectrochemical fuel cell system also known as micro fuel cell that generates electric current by diverting electrons produced from the microbial oxidation of reduced compounds on the anode to oxidized compounds such as oxygen on the cathode through an external electrical circuit. MFCs produce electricity by using the electrons derived from biochemical reactions catalyzed by bacteria.Comprehensive Biotechnology MFCs can be grouped into two general categories: mediated and unmediated. The first MFCs, demonstrated in the early 20th century, used a mediator: a chemical that transfers electrons from the bacteria in the cell to the anode. Unmediated MFCs emerged in the 1970s; in this type of MFC the bacteria typically have electrochemically active redox proteins such as cytochromes on their outer membrane that can transfer electrons directly to the anode. In the 21st century MFCs have started to find commercial use in wastewater treatment.
High-pressure electrolysis (HPE) is the electrolysis of water by decomposition of water (H2O) into oxygen (O2) and hydrogen gas (H2) due to the passing of an electric current through the water. The difference with a standard proton exchange membrane electrolyzer is the compressed hydrogen output around 12–20 megapascals (120–200 bar) at 70 °C. By pressurising the hydrogen in the electrolyser the need for an external hydrogen compressor is eliminated, the average energy consumption for internal differential pressure compression is around 3%.
An electrocatalyst is a catalyst that participates in electrochemical reactions. Electrocatalysts are a specific form of catalysts that function at electrode surfaces or, most commonly, may be the electrode surface itself. An electrocatalyst can be heterogeneous such as a platinized electrode. Homogeneous electrocatalysts, which are soluble, assist in transferring electrons between the electrode and reactants, and/or facilitate an intermediate chemical transformation described by an overall half reaction. Major challenges in electrocatalysts focus on fuel cells.
A Johnson thermoelectric energy converter or JTEC is a type of solid-state heat engine that uses the electrochemical oxidation and reduction of hydrogen in a two-cell, thermal cycle that approximates the Ericsson cycle. It is under investigation as a viable alternative to conventional thermoelectric conversion. Lonnie Johnson invented it and claims the converter exhibits an energy conversion efficiency of as much as 60%, however, this claim is at a theoretical level based on comparison with a Carnot cycle and assumes a temperature gradient of 600 °C. It was originally proposed for funding to the Office of Naval Research but was refused. Johnson obtained later funding by framing the engine as a hydrogen fuel cell. Johnson had been collaborating with PARC on development of the engine.
Electrochemical engineering is the branch of chemical engineering dealing with the technological applications of electrochemical phenomena, such as electrosynthesis of chemicals, electrowinning and refining of metals, flow batteries and fuel cells, surface modification by electrodeposition, electrochemical separations and corrosion.
Proton exchange membrane(PEM) electrolysis is the electrolysis of water in a cell equipped with a solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) that is responsible for the conduction of protons, separation of product gases, and electrical insulation of the electrodes. The PEM electrolyzer was introduced to overcome the issues of partial load, low current density, and low pressure operation currently plaguing the alkaline electrolyzer. It involves a proton-exchange membrane.
Sonoelectrochemistry is the application of ultrasound in electrochemistry. Like sonochemistry, sonoelectrochemistry was discovered in the early 20th century. The effects of power ultrasound on electrochemical systems and important electrochemical parameters were originally demonstrated by Moriguchi and then by Schmid and Ehert when the researchers investigated the influence of ultrasound on concentration polarisation, metal passivation and the production of electrolytic gases in aqueous solutions. In the late 1950s, Kolb and Nyborg showed that the electrochemical solution hydrodynamics in an electrochemical cell was greatly increased in the presence of ultrasound and described this phenomenon as acoustic streaming. In 1959, Penn et al. demonstrated that sonication had a great effect on the electrode surface activity and electroanalyte species concentration profile throughout the solution. In the early 1960s, the electrochemist Allen J. Bard showed in controlled potential coulometry experiments that ultrasound significantly enhances mass transport of electrochemical species from the bulk solution to the electroactive surface. In the range of ultrasonic frequencies [20 kHz – 2 MHz], ultrasound has been applied to many electrochemical systems, processes and areas of electrochemistry both in academia and industry, as this technology offers several benefits over traditional technologies. The advantages are as follows: significant thinning of the diffusion layer thickness (δ) at the electrode surface; increase in electrodeposit/electroplating thickness; increase in electrochemical rates, yields and efficiencies; increase in electrodeposit porosity and hardness; increase in gas removal from electrochemical solutions; increase in electrode cleanliness and hence electrode surface activation; lowering in electrode overpotentials ; and suppression in electrode fouling.
The Castner Gold Medal on Industrial Electrochemistry is an biennial award given by the Electrochemical Technology Group of Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) to an authority on applied electrochemistry or electrochemical engineering connected to industrial research. The award is named in honor of Hamilton Castner, a pioneer in the field of industrial electrochemistry, who patented in 1892 the mercury cell for the chloralkali process. Castner was an early member of SCI.
Elod Lajos Gyenge is a professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the faculty of Applied Science in University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC, Canada. He is also an associate member of the Clean Energy Research Center of UBC Vancouver campus. Elod Gyenge has been nominated for several teaching and research awards including Japanese Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) Fellowship at Osaka University and the recipient of the distignshuied Elisabeth and Leslie Gould Endowed Professorship at UBC from 2007 to 2014. His research has been toward development of electrochemical systems such as fuel cells, batteries and electrosynthesis systems. He is also an appointed professor in the engineering school of Osaka University in Japan.
France 
