Scalable fabrication of high activity nanoporous copper powders for electrochemical CO2 reduction via ball milling and dealloying

Qi, Zhen; Biener, Monika M.; Kashi, Ajay R.; Hunegnaw, Sara; Leung, Alvin; Ma, Sichao; Huo, Ziyang; Kuhl, Kendra P.; Biener, Juergen

doi:10.1016/j.jcou.2021.101454

Scalable fabrication of high activity nanoporous copper powders for electrochemical CO₂ reduction via ball milling and dealloying

Journal Article · Fri Jan 22 23:00:00 EST 2021 · Journal of CO2 Utilization

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcou.2021.101454· OSTI ID:1764757

Qi, Zhen ^[1]; Biener, Monika M. ^[1]; Kashi, Ajay R. ^[2]; Hunegnaw, Sara ^[2]; Leung, Alvin ^[2]; Ma, Sichao ^[2]; Huo, Ziyang ^[2]; Kuhl, Kendra P. ^[2]; Biener, Juergen ^[1]

Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Opus 12 Incorporated, Berkeley, CA (United States)

Electrochemical CO₂ reduction (ECR) is a promising technology to close the anthropic CO₂ circle using renewable energy to achieve carbon neutrality. Future commercialization of ECR will require the development of new catalyst synthesis routes that will allow significant upscaling of catalyst production from current research-level milligram quantities to the kilogram scale and beyond while maintaining the activity and selectivity demonstrated at the research level. Here, we report on generating and testing submicron-sized nanoporous copper (npCu) particles by using a scalable approach consisting of ball milling brittle Cu-based intermetallics followed by dealloying to add nanoporosity for high surface area. The resulting npCu particles have been tested in an industry-relevant large area (25 cm²) electrolyzer platform and showed Faraday efficiencies (FE) for ethylene up to 34 % at current densities of 75–100 mA/cm² while keeping FE for hydrogen less than 30 %. Our results demonstrate that a combination of ball milling and dealloying is a promising approach to generate large quantities of high activity and high surface area npCu particles for ECR at an industry-relevant scale.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). The Molecular Foundry (TMF)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Advanced Manufacturing Office; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-07NA27344; AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 1764757

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1811199

Report Number(s):: LLNL-JRNL--813680; 1021478

Journal Information:: Journal of CO2 Utilization, Journal Name: Journal of CO2 Utilization Vol. 45; ISSN 2212-9820

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Related Subjects

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
Copper
Dealloying
Electrochemical CO2 reduction
Ethylene production
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Scalable fabrication of high activity nanoporous copper powders for electrochemical CO2 reduction via ball milling and dealloying

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Scalable fabrication of high activity nanoporous copper powders for electrochemical CO₂ reduction via ball milling and dealloying