3D-printed porous electrodes for advanced electrochemical flow reactors: A Ni/stainless steel electrode and its mass transport characteristics

Porous electrodes have shown high performance in industrial electrochemical processes and redox flow batteries for energy storage. These materials offer great advantages over planar electrodes in terms of larger surface area, superior space time yield and enhanced mass transport. In this work, a highly ordered porous stainless steel structure was manufactured by 3D-printing and coated with nickel from an acidic bath by electrodeposition in a divided rectangular channel flow cell. Following the electrodeposition, the volumetric mass transport coefficient of this electrode was determined by the electrochemical reduction of 1.0x10(-3) mol dm(-3) of ferricyanide ions by linear sweep voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The convection diffusion characteristics are compared with other geometries to demonstrate the novelty and the advantages of 3D-printed porous electrodes in electrochemical flow reactors. Robust porous electrodes with tailored surface area, composition, volumetric porosity and flow properties are possible. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.