Scaling-up the sun-driven electrocatalytic CO2 capture and conversion to Syngas
Simelys Hernandez a, Hilmar Guzman a, Federica Zammillo a, Roger Miro b, Alberto Lopera c, Adrianna Nogalska b, Maria J. Lopez-Tendero c, Miriam Diaz de los Bernardos b
a Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129-Turin
b EURECAT, Centre Tecnològic de Catalunya, Polymeric and Composites Processes Unit, Parc Tecnològic del Vallès, Av. Universitat Autònoma, 23, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona 08290, Spain
c Laurentia Technologies, Av. Benjamin Franklin 12 Valencia Spain
Materials for Sustainable Development Conference (MATSUS)
Proceedings of MATSUS Spring 2024 Conference (MATSUS24)
#SolFuelScale - Practical aspects of solar fuel production: scalability, stability & outdoor operation
Barcelona, Spain, 2024 March 4th - 8th
Organizers: Fatwa Abdi and Virgil Andrei
Invited Speaker, Simelys Hernandez, presentation 177
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.matsus.2024.177
Publication date: 18th December 2023

The most challenging deal we face today is the need to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and tackle climate change. Though calls to reduce it are growing louder yearly, emissions remain unsustainably high. CO2 is the key contributor to global climate change in the atmosphere. Electrochemical CO2 reduction (EC CO2R) into chemicals or fuels holds great research interest as a promising approach to mitigate CO2 emissions and reach a carbon-neutral future.[1] In this regard, an extraordinary effort has been made to discover new efficient and sustainable catalysts at the laboratory level over recent years. High-performance electrocatalysts in aqueous electrolytes often rely on noble metals, which may hinder their industrial applications. Herein, we successfully synthesized core-shell Cu2O/SnO2 nanoparticles functionalized with a silane group, using a simple and versatile methodology based on a three-step scalable synthesis method involving wet precipitation followed by salinization and, finally, a rhenium-based complex has been assembled by electro-polymerization. The carbon paper-supported Cu2O/SnO2-Re electrocatalyst was characterized at 10 cm2 scale, demonstrating a steady-state production of syngas at -20 mA·cm-2 up to 24 hours, achieving a CO:H2 ratio from 3 to 9. To translate those developments from the laboratory level to a higher TRL towards the practical application for CO2 capture and utilization[2], an additional chamber was added to the system for continuous CO2 capture and electrochemical conversion, increasing the electrode area from 10 cm2 to 100 cm2. Captured CO2 co-electrolysis to syngas (H2:CO ratio of 5) in one step was demonstrated with a high CO2 conversion at a current up to -2 A, indicating the scale-up potential of this intensified system. The technology is under validation in a TRL4 reactor composed of an array of 5 modules (i.e., 5 x 4 cells x 100 cm2 or 0.2m2) for direct CO2 conversion from simulated anthropogenic sources. The design ensures a self-bias operation by integrating low-cost perovskite photovoltaic (PV) cells to provide any required additional bias to drive the reaction with Perovskite PV panels with a cost of up to 5 times lower (10 €/m2) than Si PV cells. Besides, to further enhance the performance, ionic liquids (ILs), which have unique properties, have been proposed to perform CO2 capture and to boost CO2-derived products. Some of us have identified as role of the anions of imidazolium based ILs the tuning of the CO/H2 ratio over Ag-based catalyst in aprotic media.[3] In this work, for the first time, a Cu2O/SnO2-Re-based electrode has been used within a continuous flow cell and in the presence of ILs-based solutions. However, we have observed different stability issues, such as the blackening of typical carbon-based gas diffusion layers (GDLs) and the degradation/colour changes of ILs-electrolyte. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) techniques have been employed to carry out the physicochemical characterization of the electrodes and to assess the electrochemical interfaces within the system, respectively. The observed findings offer openings for large-scale carbon capture and CO2 reduction technology deployment. The TRL5 demonstration our most stable developed technology is planned in 2024 at the facilities of IIF Spain with real flue gas emissions.

The financial support of the SUNCOCHEM project (Grant Agreement No 862192) of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Action programme is acknowledged.

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