Effect of Reaction Conditions on Cu⁃Catalyzed CO2 Electroreduction

Authors

Chang ZHU, 1. CAS Key Laboratory of Low-carbon Conversion Science and Engineering, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201210, China;2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China;
Wei CHEN, 1. CAS Key Laboratory of Low-carbon Conversion Science and Engineering, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201210, China;Follow
Yan-fang SONG, 1. CAS Key Laboratory of Low-carbon Conversion Science and Engineering, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201210, China;
Xiao DONG, 1. CAS Key Laboratory of Low-carbon Conversion Science and Engineering, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201210, China;
Gui-hua LI, 1. CAS Key Laboratory of Low-carbon Conversion Science and Engineering, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201210, China;
Wei WEI, 1. CAS Key Laboratory of Low-carbon Conversion Science and Engineering, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201210, China;3. School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, 201210, China;Follow
Yu-han SUN, 1. CAS Key Laboratory of Low-carbon Conversion Science and Engineering, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201210, China;3. School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, 201210, China;Follow

Corresponding Author

Wei CHEN(chenw@sari.ac.cn);
Wei WEI(weiwei@sari.ac.cn);
Yu-han SUN(sunyh@sari.ac.cn)

Abstract

Electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide (CO₂) driven by renewable electricity that can meet both carbon emission reduction and renewable energy utilization has been rapidly developed in recent years. Copper (Cu) catalyst has long been a promising candidate for CO₂ electroreduction applications because of its natural abundance and specific capability of producing a substantial amount of C2 products. However, various metallic Cu electrodes reported have been significantly influenced by the adsorption of certain cation/anion ions, resulting in wide-span catalytic activities and selectivity for various products. In addition, a recent report demonstrated that by virtue of gas-diffusion flow cell with Cu cathode, remarkable ethylene production was achieved in CO₂ electroreduction. It is, therefore, desirable to systematically investigate the effect of reaction conditions on the performances of Cu-catalyzed CO₂ electroreduction. Here we chose the commercial Cu particles with an average size of 600 nm as the catalyst for CO₂ electroreduction and investigated the electrocatalytic performances under various reaction conditions, including the commonly used electrolyte solutions, the different potassium hydrogen carbonate (KHCO3) concentrations, as well as H-type and gas-diffusion flow cells. The results of linear sweep voltammetry and potentiostatic CO₂ electrolysis showed that KHCO₃ as an electrolyte solution with a concentration of 0.5 mol?L^-1 offered good catalytic activities and high current densities, and the gas-diffusion flow cell could further improve the Faradaic efficiencies and partial current densities of the main products formate and CO. This work provides a fundamental insight to the electrocatalytic conversion of CO₂ reduction from the view of reaction conditions.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords

CO2 electroreduction, copper catalyst, reaction conditions, gas-diffusion electrode

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.13208/j.electrochem.191228

Publication Date

2020-12-28

Online Available Date

2020-04-15

Revised Date

2020-02-25

Received Date

2019-12-30

Recommended Citation

Chang ZHU, Wei CHEN, Yan-fang SONG, Xiao DONG, Gui-hua LI, Wei WEI, Yu-han SUN. Effect of Reaction Conditions on Cu⁃Catalyzed CO2 Electroreduction[J]. Journal of Electrochemistry, 2020 , 26(6): 797-807.
DOI: 10.13208/j.electrochem.191228
Available at: https://jelectrochem.xmu.edu.cn/journal/vol26/iss6/6