A High-Performance Continuous-Flow MEA Reactor for Electroreduction CO₂ to Formate

Authors

Pei-Xuan Liu, 1. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China;
Lu-Wei Peng, 1. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China;
Rui-Nan He, 1. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China;
Lu-Lu Li, 1. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China;
Jin-Li Qiao, 1. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China;2. Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai 200092, China;Follow

Corresponding Author

Jin-Li Qiao(qiaojl@dhu.edu.cn)

Abstract

The electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO₂RR) is a promising approach to produce liquid fuels and industrial chemicals by utilizing intermittent renewable electricity for mitigating environmental problems. However, the traditional H-type reactor seriously limits the electrochemical performance of CO₂RR due to the low CO₂ solubility in electrolyte, and high ohmic resistance caused by the large distance between two electrodes, which is unbeneficial for industrial application. Herein, we demonstrated a high-performance continuous flow membranes electrode assembly (MEA) reactor based on a self-growing Cu/Sn bimetallic electrocatalyst in 0.5 mol·L^-1 KHCO₃ for converting CO₂ to formate. Compared with an H-type cell, the MEA reactor not only shows the excellent current density (66.41 mA·cm^-2 at -1.11 V_RHE), but also maintains high Faraday efficiency of formate (89.56%) with the steady work around 20 h. Notably, we also designed the new CO₂RR system to effectively separate the gaseous/liquid production. Surprisingly, the production rate of formate reached 163 μmol·h^-1·cm^-2 at -0.91 V_RHE with the cell voltage of 3.17 V. This study provides a promising path to overcome mass transport limitations of the electrochemical CO₂RR and to separate liquid from gas products.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords

electrochemical reduction, carbon dioxide, flow MEA reactor, electrolyzer

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.13208/j.electrochem.210423

Publication Date

2022-01-28

Online Available Date

2022-01-28

Revised Date

2021-06-06

Received Date

2021-04-23

Recommended Citation

Pei-Xuan Liu, Lu-Wei Peng, Rui-Nan He, Lu-Lu Li, Jin-Li Qiao. A High-Performance Continuous-Flow MEA Reactor for Electroreduction CO₂ to Formate[J]. Journal of Electrochemistry, 2022 , 28(1): 2104231.
DOI: 10.13208/j.electrochem.210423
Available at: https://jelectrochem.xmu.edu.cn/journal/vol28/iss1/3