NGenE 2021 - Electrochemistry Is Everywhere - summary of key panel messages

Sep 21, 2026

NGenE 2021 presents a status report summarizing key messages from panel discussions at the annual Next Generation Electrochemistry workshop. It explains why electrochemistry training and research initiatives needed stronger momentum, how the program evolved to address emerging challenges, and how it shifted formats during the COVID-19 pandemic to enable global access. The report highlights cross-disciplinary opportunities and examines whether electrochemistry can replace thermochemistry for low-carbon industrial transformation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Overview

Mission and evolution of NGenE

COVID-19 adaptation and outcomes

Status report format

Theme: Can Electrochemistry Replace Thermochemistry?

Driving forces and emissions in thermochemical processes

Electrification challenges and infrastructure needs

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NGenE 2021: Electrochemistry Is Everywhere | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Cite This: ACS Energy Lett. 2022, 7, 368−374
| | | | | ACCESS | Metrics & More | | Article Recommendations | I n 2016, an Editorial in ACS Nano, entitled “The Rising and Receding Fortunes of Electrochemists”,1 reﬂected the growing scientiﬁc consensus that existing initiatives in fundamental research were undermatched to the fact that electrochemistry was becoming ubiquitous in applications in energy, thus handicapping progress toward social impact. That same year, Next Generation Electrochemistry (NGenE) hosted its ﬁrst edition at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). NGenE is an annual summer workshop focused on describing emerging challenges at the frontiers of research in electrochemistry and the application of innovative strategies to address them. The original premise behind NGenE was also that, despite its reach and importance, fundamental electrochemistry had gone through a rather slow period of activity in the early 21st century compared to many companion ﬁelds. Back in 2016, one of the causes was ascribed to a deﬁcit in electrochemistry training at the graduate level,23 leading to calls for increased emphasis in research in this area.4 Since 2016, NGenE has tackled these deﬁciencies by broadening the knowledge and perspective of senior graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. A series of world-renowned experts in various walks of electrochemistry examine fundamental phenomena at an advanced level, identifying critical gaps in our understanding and innovative strategies to address them. The program assumes baseline knowledge and prior experience in electrochemistry. NGenE does not ask, “What is electrochemistry?” but instead,“What will electrochemistry become?”. As such, it addresses the very same issues raised in the aforementioned Editorial. Fast-forwarding ﬁve years, support and activities in fundamental electrochemical research have undergone very signiﬁcant growth. Furthermore, new applications of electrochemistry that were not on our radar in 2016 have emerged, especially among organic chemists.5 It is an exciting time to bean electrochemist, and new generations of leaders in research are increasingly pursuing this path. Simultaneously, NGenE has evolved from a program with a focus on rather speciﬁc topics, such as batteries, to expose the major diversity of ﬁelds interested in electrochemistry and ﬁnding common elements between their challenges. In 2020, the world ground to a halt with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and NGenE had to adapt to the reality that meetings in person were not possible. The program migrated from a format of interactive lectures led by individual researchers to panel discussions involving multiple researchers talking to each other and with the attendees, who were provided the virtual ﬂoor to ask questions. The outcome was a series of highly dynamic discussions that are now free to watch on demand by anyone in the world.6 Published XXXX by American Chemical Society NGenE 2021 was divided into a series of panels, each dedicated to a speciﬁc topic at the frontiers of electrochemical research. In this status report, we summarize the key messages emerging from the discussions. While some panels covered aspects not limited to energy technology, the commonality of lessons and challenges highlights the many opportunities ahead for cross-pollination to establish electrochemistry as central to our current transition away from the fossil-fuel paradigm. By sharing them here, we strive to motivate the community to pursue directions that move us beyond the current frontie

FAQs

What is NGenE 2021 and what does the status report do?

NGenE 2021 is an annual electrochemistry workshop whose status report summarizes key messages emerging from panel discussions on frontier topics.

How did NGenE adapt during the COVID-19 pandemic?

In 2020, in-person meetings were not possible, so the program migrated from individual interactive lectures to panel discussions with a virtual floor for attendee questions, creating highly dynamic discussions available on demand.

What central question does the report explore regarding industrial chemistry?

The report examines whether electrochemistry can replace thermochemistry by shifting chemical transformation pathways from fossil-fuel-driven high-temperature processes to electricity-driven electrochemical approaches, while noting infrastructure and electricity-demand challenges.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Maya Linwood