Proceedings of nanoGe Fall Meeting 2021 (NFM21)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.nfm.2021.194
Publication date: 23rd September 2021
The electrochemical reduction of CO2 to value-added products (e.g., CO, HCOO−)1 is increasingly regarded as an appealing strategy to valorize CO2 while decreasing its emissions. Driven by the sluggish kinetics of the CO2-reduction reaction (CO2RR), an ever-increasing body of work is being devoted to the development of new CO2RR- electrocatalysts.2 However, such studies are preponderantly performed in liquid electrolytes that suffer from a limited CO2-solubility (≈ 30 mM) that restricts the attainable currents to values well below the > 200 mA·cm−2 relevant for industrial applications. Those high currents can be attained in so-called co-electrolysis cells in which the CO2 is supplied as a humidified gas, and gas diffusion electrodes and ion-exchange membrane electrolytes are implemented to minimize mass-transport and ohmic losses, respectively.3 However, the development of such co-electrolyzers remains at an early stage in which elementary aspects like the choice of ion exchange membrane remain unclear. In this regard, the proton-exchange membranes used in polymer electrolyte water electrolyzers are not applicable, since they entail an acidic reaction environment (pH ≈ 0) that would favor H2-evolution over the CO2RR. Alternatively, recent studies have implemented anion exchange membranes (AEMs) featuring promising performances,4,5 but in which the (bi)carbonate formed at the cathode is transported to the anode and oxidized back to carbon dioxide, lowering the net CO2-utilization.6,7
This contribution will summarize our efforts from catalysts, component and cell development including a techno-economic analysis of technical scale-up feasibility.
[1] J. Durst, A. Rudnev, A. Dutta, Y. Fu, J. Herranz, V. Kaliginedi, A. Kuzume, A. A. Permyakova, Yohan Paratcha, P. Broekmann, and Thomas J. Schmidt, Chimia, 69, 769 (2015).
[2] J. Herranz, J. Durst, E. Fabbri, A. Patru, X. Cheng, A. A. Permyakova, and T. J.Schmidt, Nano Energy, 29, 4 (2016).
[3] J. Herranz, A. Patru, E. Fabbri, and T. J. Schmidt, Curr. Opin. Electrochem., 23, 89 (2020).
[4] K. Wu, E. Birgersson, B. Kim, and P. J. A. Kenis, J. Electrochem. Soc., 162, F23 (2014).
[5] J. J. Kaczur, H. Yang, Z. Liu, S. D. Sajjad, and R. I. Masel, Frontiers Chem., 6, 263 (2018)
We acknowledge funding from SCCER Heat & Electricity Storage and Swiss National Science Foundation.
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