Local ionic transport enables selective PGM-free bipolar membrane electrode assembly.

Bipolar membranes in electrochemical CO conversion cells enable different reaction environments in the CO-reduction and O-evolution compartments. Under ideal conditions, water-splitting in the bipolar membrane allows for platinum-group-metal-free anode materials and high CO utilizations. In practice, however, even minor unwanted ion crossover limits stability to short time periods.

Non-invasive current collectors for improved current-density distribution during CO electrolysis on super-hydrophobic electrodes.

Electrochemical reduction of CO presents an attractive way to store renewable energy in chemical bonds in a potentially carbon-neutral way. However, the available electrolyzers suffer from intrinsic problems, like flooding and salt accumulation, that must be overcome to industrialize the technology. To mitigate flooding and salt precipitation issues, researchers have used super-hydrophobic electrodes based on either expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) gas-diffusion layers (GDL's), or carbon-based GDL's with added PTFE.

Electroreduction of Carbon Dioxide to Acetate using Heterogenized Hydrophilic Manganese Porphyrins.

The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO ) to value-added chemicals is a promising strategy to mitigate climate change. Metalloporphyrins have been used as a promising class of stable and tunable catalysts for the electrochemical reduction reaction of CO (CO RR) but have been primarily restricted to single-carbon reduction products. Here, we utilize functionalized earth-abundant manganese tetraphenylporphyrin-based (Mn-TPP) molecular electrocatalysts that have been immobilized via electrografting onto a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) to convert CO with overall 94 % Faradaic efficiencies, with 62 % being converted to acetate.

Investigating the role of potassium cations during electrochemical CO reduction.

The specific identity of electrolyte cations has many implications in various electrochemical reactions. However, the exact mechanism by which cations affect electrochemical reactions is not agreed upon in the literature. In this report, we investigate the role of cations during the electrochemical reduction of CO by chelating the cations with cryptands, to change the interaction of the cations with the components of the electric double layer.

Energy comparison of sequential and integrated CO capture and electrochemical conversion.

Integrating carbon dioxide (CO) electrolysis with CO capture provides exciting new opportunities for energy reductions by simultaneously removing the energy-demanding regeneration step in CO capture and avoiding critical issues faced by CO gas-fed electrolysers. However, understanding the potential energy advantages of an integrated process is not straightforward due to the interconnected processes which require knowledge of both capture and electrochemical conversion processes. Here, we identify the upper limits of the integrated process from an energy perspective by comparing the working principles and performance of integrated and sequential approaches.

CO Electrolysis via Surface-Engineering Electrografted Pyridines on Silver Catalysts.

The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO) to value-added materials has received considerable attention. Both bulk transition-metal catalysts and molecular catalysts affixed to conductive noncatalytic solid supports represent a promising approach toward the electroreduction of CO. Here, we report a combined silver (Ag) and pyridine catalyst through a one-pot and irreversible electrografting process, which demonstrates the enhanced CO conversion versus individual counterparts.