Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis: Challenges and Opportunities
Elena Baranova
Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Director, Nexus for Quantum Technologies (NexQT) Institute
University of Ottawa
Thursday, August 3, 2023
3:30 p.m.
In-person: C2- 361 (Reading Room)
Abstract: Economic and environmental challenges motivate the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources and associated energy vectors, with hydrogen being the most attractive energy carrier. One promising path for green hydrogen production is water electrolysis. An emerging technology for hydrogen production is an anion exchange membrane water electrolysis promises to use an anion exchange membrane (AEM) to combine the benefits of alkaline and proton exchange membrane electrolyzers to produce hydrogen at high current densities, high efficiency using low-cost, non-platinum group metal catalysts. This talk will discuss the opportunities for AEM water electrolysis, the recent developments of Ni-based electrode materials, ionomer/electrocatalyst interactions that need to be solved to design commercial systems for hydrogen production at a lower cost using renewable energy.
Biography: Elena Baranova is a Full Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and a Director of Nexus for Quantum Technologies (NexQT) Institute at the University of Ottawa, Canada. She received her Ph.D. from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in 2005. She was an NSERC post-doctoral fellow with the National Research Council (NRC), Canada (2005-2007) before joining University of Ottawa in 2008 as a tenure-track Assistant Professor. Her field of research is Electrochemical Engineering, Energy and Catalysis. Dr. Baranova has authored over 140 publications, three book chapters and holds one US patent. She is an Executive Editor of the Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, JCTB (SCI, Wiley) and a Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Solid-State Electrochemistry (Springer Nature).