{"title":"Ionomer–catalyst interaction in the catalyst layer for alkaline membrane water electrolysis","authors":"Katerina Hradecna , Anastasiia Hubina , Jaromir Hnat , Karel Bouzek","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101220","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101220","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Alkaline membrane water electrolysis is gaining attention as a hydrogen production technology combining the advantages of the alkaline and proton exchange membrane water electrolysis. To fully utilize the potential of this technology, it is necessary to prepare a membrane-electrode assembly characterized by high efficiency and intensity of electrolysis. One of the vital demands to achieve this target is the establishment of a frequent triple-phase boundary. If a concentrated liquid electrolyte is used, this boundary occurrence is established due to the ionic conductivity of the electrolyte solution. In the case of a diluted liquid electrolyte, in the ideal case, demineralized water circulating through the cell, this task is accomplished by the interactions between catalyst and ionomer, fulfilling the role of binder and ion conductor. This review focuses on advances in the second approach, namely ionomer design, catalyst layer composition, and the impact of the selected parameters such as catalyst to binder ratio, catalyst load, and type of membrane–electrode assembly.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"51 ","pages":"Article 101220"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145920729","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Kinetic and thermodynamic limitations in direct air capture: toward optimized adsorbent design and regeneration strategies","authors":"Xiaohao Jia , Ali A Rownaghi , Fateme Rezaei","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101219","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101219","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Direct air capture (DAC) faces significant kinetic and thermodynamic challenges due to the ultra-dilute CO<sub>2</sub> concentration in the atmosphere (∼0.04%). Narrowing these gaps is essential for enhancing the efficiency and viability of DAC as a negative emissions technology. This review systematically explores three strategies to address these challenges: (i) optimizing the pore structure of adsorbents, (ii) incorporating surfactants, and (iii) optimizing the regeneration process. By focusing on the above strategies, this study highlights recent advancements in improving adsorption equilibrium and kinetics, and energy efficiency under DAC conditions, which provides insight for guiding future research and advancing DAC technologies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"51 ","pages":"Article 101219"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145920730","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Progress and perspectives on scaling next-generation alkaline water electrolysis: linking fundamentals to system design","authors":"Julia Hoffmann, Bastian JM Etzold","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2026.101235","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2026.101235","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Next-generation alkaline water electrolysis is re-emerging as a key technology for decentralised, renewable-driven hydrogen production, where dynamic operation, cost efficiency and system integration define performance beyond simple scale enlargement. This review examines recent advances in electrocatalyst design, bubble dynamics, cell configuration and operational strategies that target these new requirements. Testing catalysts under industrially relevant temperatures, electrolyte concentrations and current densities reveals realistic active states and degradation pathways, while improved electrode microstructures demonstrate that intrinsic activity and gas–liquid transport must be co-optimised. Bubble behaviour remains a central performance factor, with electrode architectures showing how gas evolution, mass transfer and transport losses are deeply interconnected. At the cell- and system-level, uniform electrolyte distribution, pressure management and hydrogen crossover emerge as critical constraints, particularly under fluctuating loads. Overall, progress increasingly relies on integrating materials innovation with system-level and dynamic validation, highlighting the need for standards and testing protocols tailored to renewable-coupled operation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"51 ","pages":"Article 101235"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147394680","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Euler–Euler multiphase models for chemical reactors","authors":"Alberto Passalacqua , Rodney O Fox","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2026.101237","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2026.101237","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Accurate modeling of multiphase industrial chemical reactors requires mathematically well-posed models that capture the essential physical phenomena of the flow regime under consideration. We identify key limitations of widely used multiphase Eulerian models, examine their root cause to the light of recent advancements, and indicate a strategy to formulate such models to be more accurate, robust, and less reliant on calibration, based on: (1) well-posed formulations consistent with kinetic equations, ensuring grid-converged solutions free from spurious artifacts; (2) turbulence closures that accurately model energy transfer and cluster-induced turbulence; (3) pseudoturbulence models, crucial for predicting energy and species transport; and (4) realizable moment methods that robustly incorporate polydispersity, polycelerity, turbulent mixing, and, when flows are very dilute, nonequilibrium effects. Areas where further research and improvement are needed are also identified.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"51 ","pages":"Article 101237"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147394683","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Physics-constrained machine learning for chemical engineering","authors":"Angan Mukherjee, Victor M Zavala","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2026.101228","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2026.101228","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Physics-constrained machine learning (PCML) combines physical models with data-driven approaches to improve reliability, generalizability, and interpretability. Although PCML has shown significant benefits in diverse scientific and engineering domains, technical and intellectual challenges hinder its applicability in complex chemical engineering applications. Key difficulties include determining the amount and type of physical knowledge to embed, designing effective fusion strategies with machine learning, scaling models to large datasets and simulators, and quantifying predictive uncertainty. This perspective summarizes recent developments and highlights challenges/opportunities in applying PCML to chemical engineering, emphasizing closed-loop experimental design, real-time dynamics and control, and handling of multiscale phenomena.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"51 ","pages":"Article 101228"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147394684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sophia Rupprecht, Qinghe Gao, Tanuj Karia, Artur M Schweidtmann
{"title":"Multi-agent systems for chemical engineering: a review and perspective","authors":"Sophia Rupprecht, Qinghe Gao, Tanuj Karia, Artur M Schweidtmann","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101209","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101209","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Large language model (LLM)-based multi-agent systems (MASs) are a recent but rapidly evolving technology with the potential to transform chemical engineering by decomposing complex workflows into teams of collaborative agents with specialized knowledge and tools. This review surveys the state-of-the-art of MASs within chemical engineering. While early studies demonstrate promising results, scientific challenges remain, including the design of tailored architectures, integration of heterogeneous data modalities, development of foundation models with domain-specific modalities, and strategies for ensuring transparency, safety, and environmental impact. As a young but fast-moving field, MASs offer exciting opportunities to rethink chemical engineering workflows.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"51 ","pages":"Article 101209"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145836473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jesús Serrano-Jiménez, Carlos Martín, Marina Pinzón, Paula Sánchez, Ana Raquel de la Osa
{"title":"Exploring the potential of ammonia electrolysis for hydrogen production: from lab-performance to stack architectures","authors":"Jesús Serrano-Jiménez, Carlos Martín, Marina Pinzón, Paula Sánchez, Ana Raquel de la Osa","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101204","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101204","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Hydrogen production via ammonia electrolysis is a promising alternative but still faces significant challenges hindering its practical deployment. Research has primarily focused on the development of anodic electrocatalysts, while limited studies address their integration into a functional laboratory-scale electrolyzer. Indeed, only two notable large-scale investigations have been reported. This review provides insight into the advances achieved in the past five years in the field of ammonia electrolysis, encompassing both small- and large-scale systems. First, the ongoing trends in the design of noble and non-noble electrocatalysts to maximize activity and stability have been analyzed. At the laboratory scale, the influence of crucial elements (porous transport layers and membranes) as well as the operational parameters (such as feed composition, temperature, etc.) is discussed, highlighting the most promising approaches to improve overall electrolyzer performance. At a larger scale, the main achievements are associated with system scale-up, particularly those related to stack design and material availability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"51 ","pages":"Article 101204"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145733691","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Addressing degradation and durability challenges in anion exchange membranes for advancing anion exchange membrane water electrolyzers","authors":"Arun Prakash Periasamy , N Clament Sagaya Selvam , Balamurugan Devadas","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2026.101226","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2026.101226","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The strategies to increase the hydrogen production capabilities of the current state-of-the-art systems, such as the anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer (AEMWE), are gaining considerable attention. Despite steady progress being made with the green hydrogen-producing capability, the AEMWE technology is facing durability issues over extended operations at the stack level. This review is primarily focused on the degradation and durability challenges in AEM. The degradation modes in AEM include: i) chemical and mechanical degradation of the polymer backbones during dry and wet operations. ii) Degradation of quaternary ammonium headgroups in the AEM due to hydroxyl radical attack. iii) Membrane swelling due to increased water uptake within the membrane electrode assembly. From an industrial viewpoint, this review discusses the latest developments on durable AEM design, structure–property relationships, systematic monitoring of the degradation pathways and key mitigation strategies. The critical viewpoints highlighted in this review would advance the fundamental understanding and engineering of next-generation AEMs for deployment in AEMWE at the industrial level.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"51 ","pages":"Article 101226"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146073406","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zhifei Yuliu, Ruofan Shi, Marianthi G Ierapetritou
{"title":"Mathematical programming approaches to supply chain optimization under uncertainty: a review","authors":"Zhifei Yuliu, Ruofan Shi, Marianthi G Ierapetritou","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101207","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101207","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Optimizing supply chains is essential for the efficient and successful operation of chemical engineering processes. Real-world supply chain performance is frequently impacted by uncertainty. This work reviews recent literature in supply chain design and planning under uncertainty, considering two or multiple stages. Progress in various applications such as biomass valorization, waste management, and pharmaceutical manufacturing is examined. Recently used uncertainty handling methods (scenario-based stochastic programming, distributionally robust optimization, fuzzy programming, and chance-constrained programming) and computational challenges are discussed. Key gaps identified for future research include the treatment of decision-dependent uncertainty and solution strategies for nonconvexity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"51 ","pages":"Article 101207"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145787467","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fabian Hauf , Sam Van Daele , Mulatu Kassie Birhanu , Stefan Haufe , Tom Breugelmans , Elias Klemm
{"title":"Integrated CO2 capture and electrolysis: advancing industrial implementation","authors":"Fabian Hauf , Sam Van Daele , Mulatu Kassie Birhanu , Stefan Haufe , Tom Breugelmans , Elias Klemm","doi":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101222","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.coche.2025.101222","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The electrochemical reduction reaction of CO<sub>2</sub> into valuable chemicals offers a promising route for carbon management and renewable energy storage. However, the economic feasibility of conventional CO<sub>2</sub> electrolysis is hindered by the energy-intensive provision of CO<sub>2</sub>. This mini review systematically explores the integrated CO<sub>2</sub> electrolysis approach, which directly couples the electrolyzer with CO<sub>2</sub> capture media, thereby passing costly intermediate stages. We concisely review the core aspects of this technology, including specialized cell designs, critical process parameters, and a focused comparison of absorbent solutions. This comparison encompasses their CO<sub>2</sub> absorption capacity, as well as the advantages and limitations of each group of absorbents in the integrated system. The role of reactive capture of amino acids in integrated electrolysis is also highlighted briefly. Finally, the review aims to assess the technology readiness level of the integrated CO<sub>2</sub> electrolysis and guide future research towards the development of an efficient and scalable technology.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":292,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering","volume":"51 ","pages":"Article 101222"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145972960","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}