Matching emerging formic acid synthesis processes with application requirements

Abstract

Formic acid is gaining interest as a carbon capture and utilization (CCU) product produced electrochemically from CO2, water and renewable energy. A common premiss is that concentrated formic acid is...

Demonstration of a three compartment solar electrolyser with gas phase cathode producing formic acid from CO2 and water using Earth abundant metals

“…Formic acid of this concentration is only suited for a limited number of applications, such as feed for bioprocesses. (Thijs et al, 2022) The costs related to increasing the concentration by (extraction-) distillation processes are very high. (Ramdin et al, 2019;Thijs et al, 2022) Future research could focus on increasing the product concentration in the electrolyser stage by lowering the water flow rate in the middle compartment, which was not possible in the current experiments for technical reasons.…”

“…(Thijs et al, 2022) The costs related to increasing the concentration by (extraction-) distillation processes are very high. (Ramdin et al, 2019;Thijs et al, 2022) Future research could focus on increasing the product concentration in the electrolyser stage by lowering the water flow rate in the middle compartment, which was not possible in the current experiments for technical reasons. In experiments in literature using similar three compartment lab scale electrolysers, high formic acid concentrations in the percentage range have been reached (Fan et al, 2020).…”

Enhanced Pomegranate‐Structured SnO2 Electrocatalysts for the Electrochemical CO2 Reduction to Formate

“…[6] In the near future, however, FA could be utilized as a liquid hydrogen carrier or directly used in a direct formic acid fuel cell (DFAFC). [7,8] Significant amounts of research have already been dedicated to making the electrochemical CO 2 reduction towards formic acid a viable option for converting anthropogenic CO 2 emissions and storing renewable electricity. [9] To this extent, numerous state-of-the-art Sn-and Bi-based electrocatalysts have been developed, yielding promising results in terms of selectivity, reaching > 90 % Faradaic efficiency (FE%), an electrolyzer current density > 200 mA cm À 2 , and a catalyst activity > 50 A g À 1 .…”

“…At present, FA is predominantly used in food chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and textiles, due to its strong reducing properties and acidic nature [6] . In the near future, however, FA could be utilized as a liquid hydrogen carrier or directly used in a direct formic acid fuel cell (DFAFC) [7,8] …”

Desalting biocrude for improved downstream processing toward marine fuel application

“…Formic acid is of interest not only because it is effective, but because it can be produced from sustainable sources of carbon such as biomass and carbon dioxide. [29][30][31][32][33][34] It is also proposed for use as a hydrogen carrier in energy applications. 35,36 Following the wash studies, hydrotreating of the washed and unwashed biocrudes was compared.…”