Surface Coverage as an Important Parameter for Predicting Selectivity Trends in Electrochemical CO Reduction.

The electrochemical CO reduction reaction (CORR) is important for a sustainable future. Key insights into the reaction pathways have been obtained by density functional theory (DFT) analysis, but so far, DFT has been unable to give an overall understanding of selectivity trends without important caveats. We show that an unconsidered parameter in DFT models of electrocatalysts-the surface coverage of reacting species-is crucial for understanding the CORR selectivities for different surfaces.

Electroreduction of CO/CO to C Products: Process Modeling, Downstream Separation, System Integration, and Economic Analysis.

Direct electrochemical reduction of CO to C products such as ethylene is more efficient in alkaline media, but it suffers from parasitic loss of reactants due to (bi)carbonate formation. A two-step process where the CO is first electrochemically reduced to CO and subsequently converted to desired C products has the potential to overcome the limitations posed by direct CO electroreduction. In this study, we investigated the technical and economic feasibility of the direct and indirect CO conversion routes to C products.

High Pressure Electrochemical Reduction of CO to Formic Acid/Formate: A Comparison between Bipolar Membranes and Cation Exchange Membranes.

A high pressure semicontinuous batch electrolyzer is used to convert CO to formic acid/formate on a tin-based cathode using bipolar membranes (BPMs) and cation exchange membranes (CEMs). The effects of CO pressure up to 50 bar, electrolyte concentration, flow rate, cell potential, and the two types of membranes on the current density (CD) and Faraday efficiency (FE) for formic acid/formate are investigated. Increasing the CO pressure yields a high FE up to 90% at a cell potential of 3.