The impact of nitrogen oxides on electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction

Byung Hee Ko, Bjorn Hasa, Haeun Shin, Emily Jeng, Sean Overa, Wilson Chen and Feng Jiao ()
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Byung Hee Ko: University of Delaware
Bjorn Hasa: University of Delaware
Haeun Shin: University of Delaware
Emily Jeng: University of Delaware
Sean Overa: University of Delaware
Wilson Chen: University of Delaware
Feng Jiao: University of Delaware

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract The electroreduction of carbon dioxide offers a promising avenue to produce valuable fuels and chemicals using greenhouse gas carbon dioxide as the carbon feedstock. Because industrial carbon dioxide point sources often contain numerous contaminants, such as nitrogen oxides, understanding the potential impact of contaminants on carbon dioxide electrolysis is crucial for practical applications. Herein, we investigate the impact of various nitrogen oxides, including nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, and nitrous oxide, on carbon dioxide electroreduction on three model electrocatalysts (i.e., copper, silver, and tin). We demonstrate that the presence of nitrogen oxides (up to 0.83%) in the carbon dioxide feed leads to a considerable Faradaic efficiency loss in carbon dioxide electroreduction, which is caused by the preferential electroreduction of nitrogen oxides over carbon dioxide. The primary products of nitrogen oxides electroreduction include nitrous oxide, nitrogen, hydroxylamine, and ammonia. Despite the loss in Faradaic efficiency, the electrocatalysts exhibit similar carbon dioxide reduction performances once a pure carbon dioxide feed is restored, indicating a negligible long-term impact of nitrogen oxides on the catalytic properties of the model catalysts.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19731-8

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