Recent Advances of (Bi)carbonate Electroreduction in Reactive Carbon Capture Systems

The electrochemical reduction reaction of carbon dioxide (CO₂RR) serves as a promising approach for effectively mitigating CO₂ emissions and producing value-added chemicals. Reactive carbon capture (RCC) refers to an integration of CO₂ capture and conversion, which could bypass the energy-intensive upstream CO₂ regeneration and downstream CO₂ separation processes. This integration is particularly attractive when using alkaline adsorbents for CO₂ capture, as they are non-toxic, non-volatile, and the resulting (bi)carbonate species serve as direct feedstocks for electrolysis. This review first focuses on the technical viability of RCC based on (bi)carbonate electrocatalysis and explains several metrics related to it. We compare its industrial processes with CO₂RR and show how pH, concentration, and additives of alkaline absorbents affect the reaction. The impacts of electrode configuration, electrolyte formulation, additives, and electrolytic cell architecture on system performance are also described. Finally, prospects of this reaction pathway are presented, with the aim of accelerating this promising technology.