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Invitation

TU/e | EIRES - Eindhoven Institute for Renewable Energy Systems kindly invites you to join the 46th online EIRES Lunch Lecture on Friday 29 September 2023 | 12h00 - 13h00 (CET).

Necessity for better membranes in water electrolysis and CO₂ electrolysis

In the transition towards renewable energy, efficient and scalable conversion of electricity into fuels and chemicals is a crucial though challenging step. Electrolysis of water and/or CO₂ can generate hydrogen and carbon-based pre-cursors to supply sustainable products to hard-to-abate sectors. This includes the use of carbon-based chemicals (e.g. for plastics) and e-fuels (e.g. for long-distance transportation). While water electrolysis is developed (and applied) for many years, the scale required for the current energy transition is enormous. Membranes play an important role in this technology, both for PEM electrolysis and AEM electrolysis.

In CO₂ electrolysis, upscaling brings the additional challenges of water management and CO₂ utilization. David will present the large impact of CO₂ crossover in CO₂ electrolyzers, and the indirect energy required for the regeneration of electrolytes and necessary CO₂ capture. Again, the choice of the membrane and system configuration is critical, with a particular role for bipolar membranes. Bipolar membranes inhibit the CO₂ crossover and allow earth-abundant electrode material, but require further development in terms of limiting current and catalyst-interaction. He will discuss the opportunities for membranes and system development towards efficient and scalable water/CO₂ electrolysis.

Program

About the speaker:
Dr.Ir. David Vermaas is associate professor at TU Delft, leading a research group on electrochemical flow systems in the Chemical Engineering department and part of the e-Refinery institute. He has been trained in environmental technology (BSc+MSc, Wageningen) and membrane technology (PhD, Wetsus+Twente), and has been visiting researcher at the Berkeley Lab. His current research focuses on water/CO₂ electrolysis, flow batteries, CO₂ capture and resource recovery.

David is also part of the multidisciplinary Energy Transition Accelerator Team and theme coordinator in the Climate Action program at TU Delft. Previous research has continued in two start-up companies, AquaBattery and SeaO₂.

Target audience:
EIRES Lunch lectures are open for anyone interested in the latest developments in energy storage and conversion. Different keynote speakers from academia and industry will present their views, solutions and outlooks on the topic. The lectures leave plenty of room for discussion. We value your input. Looking forward meeting you!

The Eindhoven Institute for Renewable Energy Systems (EIRES) is TU/e's answer to the broad, multidisciplinary question that is the energy transition