Insights into Electrochemical CO Reduction on Metallic and Oxidized Tin Using Grand-Canonical DFT and In Situ ATR-SEIRA Spectroscopy.

Electrochemical CO reduction (COR) to formate is an attractive carbon emissions mitigation strategy due to the existing market and attractive price for formic acid. Tin is an effective electrocatalyst for COR to formate, but the underlying reaction mechanism and whether the active phase of tin is metallic or oxidized during reduction is openly debated. In this report, we used grand-canonical density functional theory and attenuated total reflection surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy to identify differences in the vibrational signatures of surface species during COR on fully metallic and oxidized tin surfaces.

Closing the Loop: Unexamined Performance Trade-Offs of Integrating Direct Air Capture with (Bi)carbonate Electrolysis.

CO from carbonate-based capture solutions requires a substantial energy input. Replacing this step with (bi)carbonate electrolysis has been commonly proposed as an efficient alternative that coproduces CO/syngas. Here, we assess the feasibility of directly integrating air contactors with (bi)carbonate electrolyzers by leveraging process, multiphysics, microkinetic, and technoeconomic models.