Continuous production of pure liquid fuel solutions via electrocatalytic CO2 reduction using solid-electrolyte devices

Chuan Xia, Peng Zhu, Qiu Jiang, Ying Pan, Wentao Liang, Eli Stavitski, Husam N. Alshareef and Haotian Wang ()
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Chuan Xia: Rice University
Peng Zhu: Rice University
Qiu Jiang: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
Ying Pan: Harvard University
Wentao Liang: Northeastern University, Innovation Campus at Burlington, MA (ICBM)
Eli Stavitski: Brookhaven National Laboratory
Husam N. Alshareef: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
Haotian Wang: Rice University

Nature Energy, 2019, vol. 4, issue 9, 776-785

Abstract: Abstract Electrocatalytic CO2 reduction is often carried out in a solution electrolyte such as KHCO3(aq), which allows for ion conduction between electrodes. Therefore, liquid products that form are in a mixture with the dissolved salts, requiring energy-intensive downstream separation. Here, we report continuous electrocatalytic conversion of CO2 to pure liquid fuel solutions in cells that utilize solid electrolytes, where electrochemically generated cations (such as H+) and anions (such as HCOO−) are combined to form pure product solutions without mixing with other ions. Using a HCOOH-selective (Faradaic efficiencies > 90%) and easily scaled Bi catalyst at the cathode, we demonstrate production of pure HCOOH solutions with concentrations up to 12 M. We also show 100 h continuous and stable generation of 0.1 M HCOOH with negligible degradation in selectivity and activity. Production of other electrolyte-free C2+ liquid oxygenate solutions, including acetic acid, ethanol and n-propanol, are also demonstrated using a Cu catalyst. Finally, we show that our CO2 reduction cell with solid electrolytes can be modified to suit other, more complex practical applications.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41560-019-0451-x

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