Advanced manufacturing for electrosynthesis of fuels and chemicals from CO₂

Abstract

Changing the reactor design paradigm for improved CO2 electrolyzers through advanced manufacturing.

Developing reactors for electrifying bio-methanation: a perspective from bio-electrochemistry

“…Separately, the development of high-performance CO 2 -fed electrolyzers has undergone a renaissance over the past decade leading to record selectivity, current density, and single pass conversion. 2,18–21 These gains were realized in large part through the understanding that new electrolyzer designs were needed to improve the electrolyte and CO 2 transport to the catalyst surface improving the local catalyst environment. This allowed researchers to approach the intrinsic activity of the electrocatalysts.…”

“…This allowed researchers to approach the intrinsic activity of the electrocatalysts. 20 We propose that a similar paradigm shift in reactor design and materials is needed to maximize the performance of biological catalysts in electrified bioreactors.…”

Electrochemical Reduction of CO2 to Alcohols: Current Understanding, Progress, and Challenges

“…For example, using advanced manufacturing methods (e.g., 3D printing), Corral et al decreased the distance between the cathode and anode, which successfully reduced the total cell resistance from 33.1 to 21.2 Ω in a neutral flow cell system and led to state-of-theart ethanol production under neutral conditions. [63] Alternatively, using CO instead of CO 2 as the feed gas can avoid the neutralization of alkaline electrolytes. The conversion of CO 2 to alcohols can be divided into two steps.…”

Mitigating mass transport limitations: hierarchical nanoporous gold flow-through electrodes for electrochemical CO2 reduction

“…32 This can be true even for microfluidic GDE electrolyzer designs with a catholyte flow field where it has been shown that lower volatility products such as ethanol can change the wetting behavior of the GDE leading to electrolyte penetration causing mass transport limitations. 33 In this work, we explore the use of hierarchical nanoporous gold (hnpAu) liquid phase flow-through electrodes to control and eliminate the effects of diffusion limitations on ECR as outlined above. A gold catalyst was used for its well-known high selectivity for CO 2 -to-CO reduction which simplifies the gas product analysis.…”