529-0659-00L  Electrochemistry: Fundamentals, Cells & Applications

SemesterAutumn Semester 2020
LecturersL. Gubler
Periodicityyearly recurring course
Language of instructionEnglish
CommentNew title - before: Elektrochemie


AbstractIntroduction to electrochemistry from a physical chemistry point of view, focusing on thermodynamics and kinetics of electrochemical reactions and the engineering of electrochemical cells. The topics are of generic nature yet also discussed in the context of specific applications in industrial electrochemistry, energy storage and conversion, electroanalytical techniques, sensors and corrosion.
ObjectiveThe course establishes the fundamentals to understand and describe electrochemical reactions. The students are familiarized with key concepts and approaches in electrochemistry and selected aspects of materials science and engineering and how they are put to use in selected applications.
ContentIntroduction: important quantities & units, terminology, redox reactions, Faraday’s laws; Equilibrium electrochemistry: cells, galvanic and electrolytic cells, thermodynamic state functions, theoretical cell voltage, half-cell / electrode potential, hydrogen electrode, the electrochemical series, Nernst equation; Electrodes & interfaces: electrochemical potential, phase potentials, work function, Fermi level, the electrified interface, the electrochemical double layer, reference electrodes and laboratory cells; Electrolytes: conductivity, aqueous electrolytes, transference effects, liquid junctions, polymer electrolytes, ion-exchange membranes, Donnan exclusion, solid state ion conductors; Dynamic electrochemistry: overpotentials, description of charge-transfer reaction, Butler-Volmer and Tafel equation, exchange current density, mass transport limitations; Industrial electrochemistry: electrochemical engineering, process and reactor types, current density distribution, porous electrodes, chlor-alkali and HCl electrolysis, oxygen depolarized cathode; Energy storage & conversion: important primary and secondary battery chemistries, fuel cells, polymer electrolyte fuel cells, low temperature H2 and O2 electrochemistry, electrocatalysis, triple-phase boundary, solid oxide fuel cell, conversion efficiency; Electroanalytical methods & sensors: potentiometry, cyclic and stripping voltammetry, rotating disc electrode studies, electrochemical sensors; Corrosion: Pourbaix diagram, corrosion potential, passivation, corrosion protection; Historical notes
Lecture noteslecture notes, exercise & solutions (PDF files) via download website
LiteratureC.H. Hamann, A. Hamnett, W. Vielstich, Electrochemistry, Wiley-VCH 2007 (2nd Edition), ISBN: 978-3-527-31069-2
[German version available as well]
T.F. Fuller, J.N. Harb, Electrochemical Engineering, Wiley 2018, ISBN: 978-1-119-00425-7