Physical Electrochemistry in the Undergraduate Curriculum: A Critical Assessment

Over the last decade, electrochemistry has permeated the lives of vast segments of the human population by providing power sources for portable communication, including phones, computers, and ever more complex multifunctional devices. This trend will continue in the foreseeable future owing to the impending introduction of large fleets of hybrid and fully electrical cars. The reasons behind this technological transition are two-fold. First, the depletion of oil reserves worldwide will lead to an increase in the price of gasoline and other fossil-derived fuels and thus affect the cost of transportation of goods in general. This factor is being exacerbated by the rapid economic growth of highly populated countries, such as China and India, which will increase market demand. The second, and perhaps more alarming factor, relates to the increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, a phenomenon believed to be responsible for the rise in the average earth temperature. Failure to contain this growing threat may lead to environmental changes the severity of which continues to be the subject of much heated debate. This uncertain outlook has stimulated renewed interest in the further development and implementation of efficient and economical energy conversion and energy storage schemes aimed at utilizing in an effective fashion, intermittent sources, such as solar and wind, as well as improving the management of the electrical grid and thus mitigate losses. Although physical approaches such as pumping water uphill or compressing gases currently represent the cheapest means of storing energy per cycle, their applicability is restricted by geological and geographical factors. Far more versatile, but also more expensive, are electrochemically-based devices including batteries, electrolyzers, electrochemical capacitors, and fuel cells. Meeting the energy and environmental challenges will demand the training of new generations of scientists and engineers in non-traditional, areas. In our view, the first step in the process is to raise awareness of students at the high school and undergraduate levels—not only of the problems we now face as a society, but also about the crucial role they could play in solving them— aimed at whetting their intellectual appetite. Whereas electrochemistry has gained strong academic, well-deserved representation in Physical Electrochemistry in the Undergraduate Curriculum: A Critical Assessment