The effect of catholyte and catalyst layer binders on CO 2 electroreduction selectivity

Chen, Yingying; Wrubel, Jacob A.; Vise, Ashlee E.; Intia, Fry; Harshberger, Samantha; Klein, Ellis; Smith, Wilson A.; Ma, Zhiwen; Deutsch, Todd G.; Neyerlin, Kenneth C.

doi:10.1016/j.checat.2022.01.011

DOE OSTI · 1860233

The effect of catholyte and catalyst layer binders on CO 2 electroreduction selectivity

Chen, Yingying·Wrubel, Jacob A.·Vise, Ashlee E.·Intia, Fry·Harshberger, Samantha·Klein, Ellis·Smith, Wilson A.·Ma, Zhiwen·Deutsch, Todd G.·Neyerlin, Kenneth C.

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Abstract

Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is an attractive technology for converting CO 2 to value-added chemicals by using renewably generated electricity. This work combines both experimental and theoretical analyses to investigate the role of different catalysts (Ag/Vu and SnO 2 /Vu), binder materials, and catholyte compositions on the selectivity of a CO 2 electrolysis cell to the two-electron CO 2 reduction products CO and formate. As a complementary effort, a 2D multi-physics transport model was developed to elucidate the fundamental processes and species concentrations in the cathode components. It was shown that the selectivity of CO 2 reduction to CO can change significantly when different catholyte compositions and binder materials are used, whereas the selectivity of CO 2 to formate is relatively stable across the conditions studied. These insights can be used to inform decisions regarding the electrode development and system design in CO 2 electrolyzers and ultimately contribute to scaling energy-efficient electrochemical CO 2 -reduction systems.

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37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY CO2 catalyst selectivity CO2 reduction catholyte electrocatalyst microenvironment electrons to molecules ionomer binder materials modeling

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Chen, Yingying, Wrubel, Jacob A., Vise, Ashlee E., Intia, Fry, Harshberger, Samantha, Klein, Ellis, Smith, Wilson A., Ma, Zhiwen, Deutsch, Todd G., Neyerlin, Kenneth C.. 2022-02-08. The effect of catholyte and catalyst layer binders on CO 2 electroreduction selectivity. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.checat.2022.01.011

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