Challenges and Opportunities in Electrocatalytic CO₂Reduction to Chemicals and Fuels

Abstract

The global temperature increase must be limited to below 1.5 °C to alleviate the worst effects of climate change. Electrocatalytic CO 2 reduction (ECO 2 R) to generate chemicals and feedstocks is considered one of the most promising technologies to cut CO 2 emission at an industrial level. However, despite decades of studies, advances at the laboratory scale have not yet led to high industrial deployment rates. This Review discusses practical challenges in the industrial chain that hamper the scaling-up deployment of the ECO 2 R technology. Faradaic efficiencies (FEs) of about 100 % and current densities above 200 mA cm À 2 have been achieved for the ECO 2 R to CO/HCOOH, and the stability of the electrolysis system has been prolonged to 2000 h. For ECO 2 R to C 2 H 4 , the maximum FE is over 80 %, and the highest current density has reached the A cm À 2 level. Thus, it is believed that ECO 2 R may have reached the stage for scale-up. We aim to provide insights that can accelerate the development of the ECO 2 R technology.

Emerging catalysts for the ambient synthesis of ethylene glycol from CO2 and its derivatives

“…For example, CO 2 could be converted by electrocatalysts into valuable chemicals like ethylene glycol to achieve zero emission of CO 2 . 19,20 Recently, many emerging photocatalysts and electrocatalysts have been developed for the ambient synthesis of EG from CO 2 and its derivatives such as CH 4 , CH 3 OH, and HCHO. 21,22 These processes with a net negative carbon emission footprint are milder than the conventional EG synthesis from the thermal-catalytic method.…”

A rational design of functional porous frameworks for electrocatalytic CO2reduction reaction

“…The ongoing use of fossil fuels together with the excess carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emission has resulted in an environmental crisis, including acidification of the ocean, extreme weather, greenhouse effect, and extinction of species. 1,2 Thus, with the aim to achieve a sustainable ecology, growing attention has focused on exploring new technologies for the capture and conversion of CO 2 into value-added products for industrial applications, such as C 1 products ( e.g. , carbon monoxide (CO), formic acid (HCOOH), methane (CH 4 ), and methyl alcohol (CH 3 OH)), C 2 products ( e.g.…”

“…The ongoing use of fossil fuels together with the excess carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emission has resulted in an environmental crisis, including acidification of the ocean, extreme weather, greenhouse effect, and extinction of species. 1,2 Thus, with the aim to achieve a sustainable ecology, growing attention has focused on exploring new technologies for the capture and conversion of CO 2 into value-added products for industrial applications, such as C 1 products (e.g., carbon monoxide (CO), formic acid (HCOOH), methane (CH 4 ), and methyl alcohol (CH 3 OH)), C 2 products (e.g., ethylene (C 2 H 4 ), ethane (C 2 H 6 ), ethyl alcohol (CH 3 CH 2 OH), and acetic acid (CH 3 COOH)), C 3 and C 3+ products. 3 To date, various approaches have been proposed to convert CO 2 to value-added products, such as chemical transformation, photocatalytic reduction, electrocatalytic reduction, and biological conversion.…”

Strategies for the mitigation of salt precipitation in zero-gap CO2 electrolyzers producing CO

“…This technology allows producing a variety of feedstock chemicals from captured CO2, water and renewable energy. A multitude of reactor designs 1 and target products ranging from C1 to C3 products 2 have been thoroughly investigated and their advantages and disadvantages are well known 1,[3][4][5] . In lowtemperature CO2 electrolysis a gas-fed, zero-gap cell architecture comprising an anion exchange membrane (AEM) is considered most promising, due to high CO2 conversion rates and low ohmic losses compared to cells using liquid catholytes 3,6,7 .…”