Reactive Carbon Capture Enables CO₂ Electrolysis with Liquid Feedstocks

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Catalysis
• Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU)

Background:

• Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2RR) offers a sustainable route to chemicals and fuels using renewable energy.
• Industrial-scale CO2RR is hindered by the high energy costs of CO2 isolation, pressurization, and purification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an electrolyzer that directly converts reactive carbon solutions (e.g., bicarbonate) into valuable products.
• To eliminate the need for pre-treatment steps in CO2RR by generating CO2 *in situ*.

Main Methods:

• Designed a "reactive carbon electrolyzer" utilizing *in situ* CO2 generation from (bi)carbonate.
• Focused on material design for permeable cathodes and optimizing supporting electrolytes for efficient (bi)carbonate conversion.
• Evaluated performance metrics including Faradaic efficiency, cell voltage, and CO2 utilization efficiency.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated *in situ* CO2 generation within the electrolyzer for direct CO2RR.
• Identified key material and electrolyte parameters influencing product selectivity and efficiency.
• Cataloged state-of-the-art performance for reactive carbon electrolyzers.

Conclusions:

• The reactive carbon electrolyzer concept effectively bypasses costly CO2 purification steps.
• Optimized materials and electrolytes are crucial for achieving commercially viable performance.
• This approach significantly contributes to realizing industrial-scale electrochemical CO2 conversion and a closed-loop carbon cycle.