Oxygen Evolution Reaction Catalysts for Acidic-Media CO₂ Electrolyzers

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Catalysis
• Materials Science

Background:

• Acidic-media CO2 reduction (CO2R) offers high CO2 conversion but requires scarce noble metal catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER).
• Limited noble metal availability hinders large-scale CO2R deployment.
• Proton-exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) provides a model for acidic OER catalyst development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review advancements in acidic-media OER catalysis for CO2R.
• To integrate mechanistic understanding, theoretical modeling, and electrode engineering for CO2R systems.
• To establish a roadmap for durable and economically viable acidic CO2 electrolyzers.

Main Methods:

• Cross-scale analysis from atomic mechanisms to system-level operations.
• Review of noble- and non-noble-metal catalyst engineering for enhanced activity and stability.
• Integration of diagnostic and computational approaches to link atomic properties with durability.

Main Results:

• Noble- and non-noble-metal catalysts can be engineered for improved activity, stability, and resource efficiency in acidic OER.
• Diagnostic and computational methods can correlate atomic-level descriptors with macroscopic durability.
• System-level optimization is crucial for advancing acidic CO2R technology.

Conclusions:

• Bridging mechanistic insights with scalable system design is key to developing durable and economical acidic CO2 electrolyzers.
• Further research into non-noble metal catalysts and advanced electrode architectures is needed.
• This review provides a roadmap for future development in acidic CO2R.