Solar-Driven Reduction of 1 atm CO2 to Formate at 10% Energy-Conversion Efficiency by Use of a TiO2 -Protected III-V Tandem Photoanode in Conjunction with a Bipolar Membrane and a Pd/C Cathode Electrocatalyst

Zhou, Xinghao; Liu, Rui; Sun, Ke; Chen, Yikai; Verlage, Erik; Francis, Sonja A.; Lewis, Nathan S.; Xiang, Chengxiang(

doi:10.1149/07704.0031ecst

Title: Solar-Driven Reduction of 1 atm CO₂ to Formate at 10% Energy-Conversion Efficiency by Use of a TiO₂ -Protected III-V Tandem Photoanode in Conjunction with a Bipolar Membrane and a Pd/C Cathode Electrocatalyst

Abstract

A solar-driven CO₂-reduction (CO₂R) cell, made up of a tandem GaAs/InGaP/TiO₂/Ni photoanode in 1.0 M KOH(aq) (pH=13.7) to facilitate the oxygen-evolution reaction (OER), a Pd/C nanoparticle-coated Ti mesh cathode in 2.8 M KHCO₃(aq) (pH=8.0) to perform the CO₂R reaction, and a bipolar membrane to allow for steady-state operation of the catholyte and anolyte at different bulk pH values, was built. At the operational current density of 8.5 mA cm^-2, in 2.8 M KHCO₃(aq), the cathode exhibited <100 mV overpotential and >94% Faradaic efficiency for the reduction of 1 atm of CO₂(g)to formate. The anode exhibited 320 ± 7 mV overpotential for the OER in 1.0 M KOH(aq), and the bipolar membrane exhibited ~480 mV voltage loss with minimal product crossover as well as >90% and >95% selectivity for protons and hydroxide ions, respectively. The solar-driven CO₂R cell converted sunlight to fuels at an energy-conversion efficiency of ~10%.

Authors:

^[1]; Liu, Rui ^[1]; Sun, Ke ^[1]; Chen, Yikai ^[1]; Verlage, Erik ^[1]; Francis, Sonja A. ^[1]; Lewis, Nathan S. ^[1]; Xiang, Chengxiang ^[2]

California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)
("CX") [California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)

Publication Date:: Tue Apr 25 00:00:00 EDT 2017

Research Org.:: California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

OSTI Identifier:: 1633780

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0004993

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: ECS Transactions (Online)

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Name: ECS Transactions (Online); Journal Volume: 77; Journal Issue: 4; Journal ID: ISSN 1938-6737

Publisher:: Electrochemical Society

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION

Citation Formats


                    Zhou, Xinghao, Liu, Rui, Sun, Ke, Chen, Yikai, Verlage, Erik, Francis, Sonja A., Lewis, Nathan S., and Xiang, Chengxiang. Solar-Driven Reduction of 1 atm CO2 to Formate at 10% Energy-Conversion Efficiency by Use of a TiO2 -Protected III-V Tandem Photoanode in Conjunction with a Bipolar Membrane and a Pd/C Cathode Electrocatalyst.  United States: N. p., 2017. 
Web.  doi:10.1149/07704.0031ecst.

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                    Zhou, Xinghao, Liu, Rui, Sun, Ke, Chen, Yikai, Verlage, Erik, Francis, Sonja A., Lewis, Nathan S., & Xiang, Chengxiang. Solar-Driven Reduction of 1 atm CO2 to Formate at 10% Energy-Conversion Efficiency by Use of a TiO2 -Protected III-V Tandem Photoanode in Conjunction with a Bipolar Membrane and a Pd/C Cathode Electrocatalyst.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1149/07704.0031ecst

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                    Zhou, Xinghao, Liu, Rui, Sun, Ke, Chen, Yikai, Verlage, Erik, Francis, Sonja A., Lewis, Nathan S., and Xiang, Chengxiang. Tue .  
"Solar-Driven Reduction of 1 atm CO2 to Formate at 10% Energy-Conversion Efficiency by Use of a TiO2 -Protected III-V Tandem Photoanode in Conjunction with a Bipolar Membrane and a Pd/C Cathode Electrocatalyst".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1149/07704.0031ecst.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1633780.

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@article{osti_1633780,

  title        = {Solar-Driven Reduction of 1 atm CO2 to Formate at 10% Energy-Conversion Efficiency by Use of a TiO2 -Protected III-V Tandem Photoanode in Conjunction with a Bipolar Membrane and a Pd/C Cathode Electrocatalyst},

  author       = {Zhou, Xinghao and Liu, Rui and Sun, Ke and Chen, Yikai and Verlage, Erik and Francis, Sonja A. and Lewis, Nathan S. and Xiang, Chengxiang},

  abstractNote = {A solar-driven CO2-reduction (CO2R) cell, made up of a tandem GaAs/InGaP/TiO2/Ni photoanode in 1.0 M KOH(aq) (pH=13.7) to facilitate the oxygen-evolution reaction (OER), a Pd/C nanoparticle-coated Ti mesh cathode in 2.8 M KHCO3(aq) (pH=8.0) to perform the CO2R reaction, and a bipolar membrane to allow for steady-state operation of the catholyte and anolyte at different bulk pH values, was built. At the operational current density of 8.5 mA cm-2, in 2.8 M KHCO3(aq), the cathode exhibited <100 mV overpotential and >94% Faradaic efficiency for the reduction of 1 atm of CO2(g) to formate. The anode exhibited 320 ± 7 mV overpotential for the OER in 1.0 M KOH(aq), and the bipolar membrane exhibited ~480 mV voltage loss with minimal product crossover as well as >90% and >95% selectivity for protons and hydroxide ions, respectively. The solar-driven CO2R cell converted sunlight to fuels at an energy-conversion efficiency of ~10%.},

  doi          = {10.1149/07704.0031ecst},

  journal      = {ECS Transactions (Online)},

  number       = 4,

  volume       = 77,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Tue Apr 25 00:00:00 EDT 2017},

  month        = {Tue Apr 25 00:00:00 EDT 2017}

}

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Figure 1: Schematic illustration of a two-electrode electrochemical setup. The anolyte is 1.0 M KOH(aq), and the catholyte is 2.8 M KHCO₃(aq). (Reprinted with permission from Ref. (17) Copyright 2016 American Chemical Society.)

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Title: Solar-Driven Reduction of 1 atm CO2 to Formate at 10% Energy-Conversion Efficiency by Use of a TiO2 -Protected III-V Tandem Photoanode in Conjunction with a Bipolar Membrane and a Pd/C Cathode Electrocatalyst

Abstract

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Figures / Tables:

Title: Solar-Driven Reduction of 1 atm CO₂ to Formate at 10% Energy-Conversion Efficiency by Use of a TiO₂ -Protected III-V Tandem Photoanode in Conjunction with a Bipolar Membrane and a Pd/C Cathode Electrocatalyst