Electrochemical Promotion of CO2 Hydrogenation Using a Pt/YSZ Fuel Cell Type Reactor

Abstract

The hydrogenation of CO2 is a reaction of key technological and environmental importance, as it contributes to the sustainable production of fuels while assisting in the reduction of a major greenhouse gas. The reaction has received substantial attention over the years within the catalysis and electrocatalysis communities. In this respect, the electrochemical promotion of catalysis (EPOC) has been applied successfully to the CO2 hydrogenation reaction to improve the catalytic activity and selectivity of conductive films supported on solid electrolytes. However, designing an effective electrocatalytic reactor remains a challenge due to the connections required between the electrodes and the external potentiostat/galvanostat. This drawback could be alleviated if the catalytic reaction occurs in a reactor that simultaneously operates as a power generator. In this work, the Electrochemical Promotion of the CO2 hydrogenation reaction in a low-temperature solid oxide electrolyte fuel cell (SOFC) reactor is studied using yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) and a platinum (Pt) electrode catalyst. The system has been studied in two distinct operation modes: (i) when the necessary energy for the electrochemical promotion is produced through the parallel reaction of H2 oxidation (galvanic operation) and (ii) when a galvanostat/potentiostat is used to impose the necessary potential (electrolytic operation). The performance of the fuel cell declines less than 15% in the presence of the reactant mixture (CO2 and H2) while producing enough current to conduct EPOC experiments. During the electrolytic operation of the electrochemical cell, the CO production rate is significantly increased by up to 50%.

Recent Advances in the Reverse Water–Gas Conversion Reaction

“…Supported Pt catalysts [32,[41][42][43][60][61][62][63] are widely used in RWGS reactions due to their excellent H 2 dissociation and hydrogenation activity.…”

Nanocatalysis for Environmental Protection, Energy, and Green Chemistry

“…In this context, this Special Issue compiled 11 high-quality contributions [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] (10 collected from PSC participants and 1 from others), covering recent research progress in the titled theme. These articles are briefly discussed below.…”

“…Lymperi et al [8] successfully used the electrochemical promotion of catalysis (EPOC) concept to improve the catalytic activity and selectivity of the CO 2 hydrogenation reaction over a Pt catalyst film supported on an Yttria Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ) solid electrolyte. The as-constructed CO 2 , H 2 , Pt/YSZ/Pt, air electrochemical cell system was studied in two distinct operation modes: (i) when the necessary energy for the electrochemical promotion was produced through the parallel reaction of H 2 oxidation (galvanic operation) and (ii) when a galvanostat/potentiostat was used to impose the necessary potential (electrolytic operation).…”