Gas-fed zero-gap electrolyzers have recently emerged
as attractive
systems for limiting ohmic losses and costs associated with electrolytes
and for optimizing energy efficiencies. Here, we report that using
a dendritic Cu oxide (D-CuO) material deposited on a gas diffusion
layer as the cathode of a gas-fed zero-gap membrane electrode assembly
(MEA) system results in a very selective conversion of CO to ethylene.
More specifically, CO reduction yielded ethylene with an FE up to
68% at 100–125 mA·cm–2 with H2 as the only other gaseous product and the electrolysis could be
carried out for several hours with good stability. Ethylene was also
the major product during CO2 electrolysis (FE = 41%) at
125–150 mA·cm–2, reflecting the high
selectivity of D-CuO for ethylene production. Such systems are relevant
for tandem CO2 electroreduction processes, allowing energy
efficiencies above 30%.
Iron- and nitrogen-doped carbon materials (FeNC) are excellent catalysts for CO2 electroreduction to CO. Current density and selectivity can be significantly improved by mixing FeNC with carbon materials such as carbon nanofibers.
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