Bernoulli's principle-mediated Cl₂ electrosynthesis

Existing technologies for chlorine (Cl₂) synthesis are generally suffered from low productivity or high production cost. Guided by Bernoulli's principle, here we report an efficient yet cost-effective electrochemical system for Cl₂ electrosynthesis, which is composed of anodic chlorine evolution reaction (CER) connected to gas chamber by triple-phase gas diffusion layer. The key is to modulate gas diffusion layer by Bernoulli's principle, wherein the pressure difference at triple-phase boundary drives oriented Cl₂ migration directly into gas chamber, thus preventing the crossover of anodic/cathodic products. By further joining with a pH-tolerant catalyst, a standalone prototype device is built for high-rate Cl₂ production, operating at the Faradaic efficiencies of 96.3% ~ 87.6% in the current density range of 0.1 ~ 1.14 A cm^-2, having superior Cl₂ synthesis performance. Further technical-economic evaluations of our synthetic scheme demonstrate reduced Cl₂ production cost, saving 6.75% (1.17 million dollar per year) as comparison to conventional chlor-alkali design. We expect these findings offer broader opportunities to develop industrially production processes for other chemical commodities.