Proceedings of nanoGe Fall Meeting 2021 (NFM21)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.nfm.2021.142
Publication date: 23rd September 2021
In order to address the threat of climate change, the electrochemical conversion of CO2 represents a viable solution[1]. Herein, the electroreduction of CO2 under atmospheric conditions has been performed in a continuous flow cell over gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs). A porous and conductive support has been employed to this end, where a Cu-based[2] catalyst has been manually deposited on the substrate by means of an airbrusher. Several variables of the investigated system have been assessed, with the aim to enhance the production of CO2 reduction liquid products. The most promising conditions have been explored among the cathodic applied potential, catalyst loading, binder content, electrolyte concentration and the presence of metal oxides in the catalytic material, like ZnO or/and Al2O3. In particular, it has been found that the binder content (Nafion) has affected the selectivity toward CO, leading to syngas with a H2/CO ratio of ⁓1 at the lowest Nafion content (15%). On the contrary, the highest Nafion content of 45% has led to a rise in C2+ products formation and a decrease of CO selectivity by 80%. The study undertaken revealed that liquid crossover, linked to electro-wetting, affects the GDE performance by severely compromising the CO2 transport to the active sites of the catalyst, and thus reducing the efficiency of CO2 conversion. A mathematical model[3] confirmed the role of a high local pH in promoting the formation of bi-carbonate species: beside the undesired consumption of CO2 with OH- ions, salts formation may cause the catalyst deactivation and hinder the mechanisms for C2+ liquid products. The ultimate intent of this work is to shift the attention of the scientific community toward other players of the CO2 reduction process, which can impact on both kinetics and mass transport and consequently on carbon efficiency of this systems[4], rather than narrowing the focus on the sole catalytic activity of the materials.
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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