CO2 Electrolyzer to Produce Formic Acid at Industry Relevant Current Density

Conference · Wed Nov 17 04:00:00 EST 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1900587· OSTI ID:1900587

Yang, Hongzhou ^[1]; Kaczur, Jerry J ^[2]; Masel, Richard I ^[2]

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1. Dioxide Materials, Inc., Boca Raton, FL (United States); Dioxide Materials
2. Dioxide Materials, Inc., Boca Raton, FL (United States)

Electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) to produce formic acid has attracted great interest recently since formic acid can be used as a feedstock for biorefineries. Over the past decade, much effort has been devoted to the prospects of electrochemical CO2 conversion to formic acid. However, issues including low current density, low selectivity, low energy efficiency, poor long-term stability, and production of formate salts instead of formic acid remain as the great challenges for the development and commercialization of this technology. Recently, Dioxide Materials (DM) has developed an electrolyzer technology that can directly convert CO2 to pure formic acid with a three-compartment CO2 electrolyzer. In this work, DM will present our recent effort on improving the electrolyzer performance operating at industry relevant current density (200 mA/cm2). We have demonstrated 200 mA/cm² with 80% Faradaic efficiency for 1000 hours of operation. The effects of CO2 concentration and impurities in the flue gas on the electrolyzer performance will be discussed, as will ongoing efforts to test the device at a coal fired power plant. The long-term (1000 h) performance of the electrolyzer will also be presented.

• Research Organization: Dioxide Materials
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: FE0031706
• OSTI ID: 1900587
• Report Number(s): DOE-DM-31706-3
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English