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Title: Continuous production of pure liquid fuel solutions via electrocatalytic CO2 reduction using solid-electrolyte devices

Journal Article · · Nature Energy
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3]; ORCiD logo [4];  [5];  [6]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [2]
  1. Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States); Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)
  2. Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States)
  3. King Abdullah Univ. of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal (Saudi Arabia)
  4. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)
  5. Northeastern Univ., Burlington, MA (United States)
  6. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

Electrocatalytic CO2 reduction is often carried out in a solution electrolyte such as KHCO3(aq), which allows for ion conduction between electrodes. Thus, liquid products that form are in a mixture with the dissolved salts, requiring energy-intensive downstream separation. In this work, we report continuous electrocatalytic conversion of CO2 to pure liquid fuel solutions in cells that utilize solid electrolytes, where electrochemically generated cations (such as H+) and anions (such as HCOO–) are combined to form pure product solutions without mixing with other ions. Using a HCOOH-selective (Faradaic efficiencies>90%) and easily scaled Bi catalyst at the cathode, we demonstrate production of pure HCOOH solutions with concentrations up to 12M. We also show 100h continuous and stable generation of 0.1 M HCOOH with negligible degradation in selectivity and activity. Production of other electrolyte-free C2+ liquid oxygenate solutions, including acetic acid, ethanol and n-propanol, are also demonstrated using a Cu catalyst. Lastly, we show that our CO2 reduction cell with solid electrolytes can be modified to suit other, more complex practical applications.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704
OSTI ID:
1571402
Report Number(s):
BNL--212214-2019-JAAM
Journal Information:
Nature Energy, Journal Name: Nature Energy Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 4; ISSN 2058-7546
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (8)

Promises of Main Group Metal–Based Nanostructured Materials for Electrochemical CO 2 Reduction to Formate journal November 2019
Elucidating the Electrocatalytic CO 2 Reduction Reaction over a Model Single‐Atom Nickel Catalyst journal December 2019
Hydroxide Is Not a Promoter of C 2+ Product Formation in the Electrochemical Reduction of CO on Copper journal March 2020
Titelbild: Hydroxide Is Not a Promoter of C 2+ Product Formation in the Electrochemical Reduction of CO on Copper (Angew. Chem. 11/2020) journal March 2020
Elucidating the Electrocatalytic CO 2 Reduction Reaction over a Model Single‐Atom Nickel Catalyst journal January 2020
Hydroxide Is Not a Promoter of C 2+ Product Formation in the Electrochemical Reduction of CO on Copper journal January 2020
Cover Picture: Hydroxide Is Not a Promoter of C 2+ Product Formation in the Electrochemical Reduction of CO on Copper (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 11/2020) journal January 2020
A solid advance in electrolytes journal September 2019