Bernardo Ballotta is to present a seminar entitled: How reliable are kinetic parameters in multiphysics models of CO2 electrolysis?

Multiphysics simulations are increasingly used as digital twins to understand, design and optimise CO₂ electrolysis cells by coupling electrochemical kinetics with mass transport and electrolyte chemistry. Their predictive capability, however, critically depends on the kinetic parameters used to describe the electrochemical reactions occurring at the electrode surfaces. In this talk, I will briefly introduce the role of multiphysics modelling in CO₂ electrolysis and the reaction networks typically implemented in continuum simulations. I will then discuss the canonical mechanisms of the CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR), hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), before presenting preliminary results from an ongoing literature review of the electrochemical kinetic parameters currently employed in these models. By comparing exchange current densities and charge transfer coefficients reported for Ag and IrO₂ catalysts, I will highlight the large variability currently found in the literature and discuss its implications for the predictive capability of Multiphysics simulations. Finally, I will discuss whether these kinetic parameters should be regarded as intrinsic material properties or as effective quantities that depend on the local reaction environment and operating conditions.