Gaining the Freedom of Scalable Gas Diffusion Electrodes for the CO₂ Reduction Reaction

Gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs) in CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) alleviate the mass transfer limitation of gaseous reagents, which is beneficial for reducing CO₂ into valuable chemicals. GDEs offer higher current densities compared to electrodes immersed in the electrolyte. Disclosing the roles of different structural parameters in tuning the performance of the GDEs is essential to exert the potential of catalysts and to meet potential large-scale industrial applications of the CO₂RR. A novel layer structure for the airbrush-type spray fabrication of GDEs was designed and optimised, comprising a carbon-based gas-diffusion layer, a PEEK fabric, a Ni mesh, a carbon-integrated catalyst layer, and a PTFE top layer. It was shown that adjusting the carbon material in the gas diffusion and the catalyst layer impacts the selectivity of the CO₂RR due to the modulation of the pore network. This work disclosed a practical and scalable but also an easily transferable pathway for preparing GDEs and offered an idea of how to tune the significant parameters of GDEs for optimising their CO₂RR performance.