Salt Formation in Zero-gap CO2 Electrolyzers: Correlating Operational Conditions to Cation Accumulation
Jasper Biemolt a, Jai Singh a, Thomas Burdyny a
a Materials for Energy Conversion and Storage (MECS), Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Delft University of Technology, Lorentzweg, 1, Delft, Netherlands
Materials for Sustainable Development Conference (MATSUS)
Proceedings of MATSUS Fall 2024 Conference (MATSUSFall24)
#PECCO2 - Advances in (Photo)Electrochemical CO2 Conversion to Chemicals and Fuels
Lausanne, Switzerland, 2024 November 12th - 15th
Organizers: Deepak PANT, Adriano Sacco and juqin zeng
Oral, Jasper Biemolt, presentation 022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.matsusfall.2024.022
Publication date: 28th August 2024

Turning carbon dioxide (CO2) into an industrial feedstock is a major challenge, but a necessity for a circular economy. To this end, utilizing an alkaline membrane electrode assembly (MEA) to electrochemically perform the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR), transforms CO2 in chemical feedstocks at efficient and industrially relevant reaction conditions. However, the cation crossover through the anion exchange membrane combined with the high local CO2 concentration and alkalinity yield carbonate salts deposit at the cathode. These salts block CO2 flow to the catalyst, decreasing the faradaic efficiency and creating a catastrophic pressure buildup. While carbonate formation is an inherent problem in alkaline CO2RR, cation crossover and salt precipitation can be mitigated.

                Here, we study the effect of operational conditions on the cell failure in alkaline MEA electrolyzers. We derived four key operating conditions to vary, based on solubility products and the Nernst-Plack equation. Focusing on the cation crossover deconvolutes salt-related cell failure from the electrolyzer design, while simultaneously predicting salt-related cell failure, without the need to run a cell to the point of failure. We found a high degree of cation crossover mitigation when using either cesium-based anolytes or elevated cell temperatures. Furthermore, we found an interesting effect of the membrane thickness on the ionic fluxes over the membrane. Our results are both insightful to researchers starting in the field of MEA CO2 electrolyzers and as guidelines for prolonged cell operation.

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