Selective and Stable Ethanol Synthesis via Electrochemical CO2 Reduction in a Solid Electrolyte Reactor

Wi, Tae-Ung; Levell, Zachary H.; Hao, Shaoyun; Elgazzar, Ahmad; Zhu, Peng; Feng, Yuge; Chen, Feng-Yang; Lam, Wei Ping; Shakouri, Mohsen; Liu, Yuanyue; Wang, Haotian

doi:10.1021/acsenergylett.4c03091

Title: Selective and Stable Ethanol Synthesis via Electrochemical CO₂ Reduction in a Solid Electrolyte Reactor

Journal Article · 15 January 2025 · ACS Energy Letters

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.4c03091 · OSTI ID:2502105

^[1]; Levell, Zachary H. ^[2];

^[1];

^[1]; Lam, Wei Ping ^[1]; Shakouri, Mohsen ^[3];

^[2];

^[1]

Rice University, Houston, TX (United States)
University of Texas at Austin, TX (United States)
University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon (Canada)

Electrochemical CO₂ reduction to ethanol faces challenges such as low selectivity, a product mixture with liquid electrolyte, and poor catalyst/reactor stability. Here, we developed a grain-rich zinc-doped Cu₂O precatalyst that presented a high ethanol Faradaic efficiency of over 40% under a current density of 350 mA·cm^–2. Our density functional theory (DFT) simulation suggested that Zn atoms inside the structure have a greater carbophilicity than the Cu atoms to help facilitate *CHCHO formation, a key reaction intermediate toward ethanol instead of other C₂ products. Here, a high Faradaic efficiency ratio between ethanol and ethylene (FE_EtOH/FE_C2H4) reached 2.34 in the zinc-doped Cu₂O precatalyst, representing an over 4-fold improvement compared to bare Cu₂O precatalyst. By integrating this Cu-based catalyst into a porous solid electrolyte (PSE) reactor with a salt-managing design, we achieved stable ethanol production for over 180 h under a current density of 250 mA·cm^–2 while maintaining ethanol selectivity at ~30%.

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Research Organization:: Rice University, Houston, TX (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: Robert A. Welch Foundation; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

Grant/Contract Number:: EE0010839

OSTI ID:: 2502105

Journal Information:: ACS Energy Letters, Journal Name: ACS Energy Letters Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 10; ISSN 2380-8195

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Title: Selective and Stable Ethanol Synthesis via Electrochemical CO₂ Reduction in a Solid Electrolyte Reactor