Two-step electrochemical reduction of CO2 towards multi-carbon products at high current densities

Cuellar, N.S. Romero; Scherer, Christian; Kaçkar, B.; Eisenreich, Wolfgang; Huber, Claudia; Wiesner‐Fleischer, Kerstin; Fleischer, Maximilian; Hinrichsen, Olaf

doi:10.1016/j.jcou.2019.10.016

Cited by 59 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…The gas product stream was then fed to the cathode chamber of the CO electrolyser, which contains a commercial copper catalyst for CO reduction, 1 M KOH as the anolyte and a NiFeO x anode. This design is similar to a tandem system previously reported by Romero Cuellar et al 23 . By maximizing the conversion of the first and second electrolysers, as well as specifically targeting acetate over other multi-carbon products, this system was able to achieve a single-pass conversion of CO 2 to acetate of 25%, a large improvement over the <1% conversion previously reported (Supplementary Table 1).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 67%

A hybrid inorganic–biological artificial photosynthesis system for energy-efficient food production

et al. 2022

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Artificial photosynthesis systems are proposed as an efficient alternative route to capture CO2 to produce additional food for growing global demand. Here a two-step CO2 electrolyser system was developed to produce a highly concentrated acetate stream with a 57% carbon selectivity (CO2 to acetate), allowing its direct use for the heterotrophic cultivation of yeast, mushroom-producing fungus and a photosynthetic green alga, in the dark without inputs from biological photosynthesis. An evaluation of nine crop plants found that carbon from exogenously supplied acetate incorporates into biomass through major metabolic pathways. Coupling this approach to existing photovoltaic systems could increase solar-to-food energy conversion efficiency by about fourfold over biological photosynthesis, reducing the solar footprint required. This technology allows for a reimagination of how food can be produced in controlled environments.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 67%

A hybrid inorganic–biological artificial photosynthesis system for energy-efficient food production

et al. 2022

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“…The CO 2 /CO mixture from the first electrolyzer can in principle directly be fed to the second electrolyzer, but initial experimental results show that the presence of large amounts of CO 2 in the mixture has a detrimental effect on the product distribution. 46 …”

Section: Process Design and Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electroreduction of CO₂/CO to C₂ Products: Process Modeling, Downstream Separation, System Integration, and Economic Analysis

Ramdin

Mot

Morrison

et al. 2021

Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

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Direct electrochemical reduction of CO 2 to C 2 products such as ethylene is more efficient in alkaline media, but it suffers from parasitic loss of reactants due to (bi)carbonate formation. A two-step process where the CO 2 is first electrochemically reduced to CO and subsequently converted to desired C 2 products has the potential to overcome the limitations posed by direct CO 2 electroreduction. In this study, we investigated the technical and economic feasibility of the direct and indirect CO 2 conversion routes to C 2 products. For the indirect route, CO 2 to CO conversion in a high temperature solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) or a low temperature electrolyzer has been considered. The product distribution, conversion, selectivities, current densities, and cell potentials are different for both CO 2 conversion routes, which affects the downstream processing and the economics. A detailed process design and techno-economic analysis of both CO 2 conversion pathways are presented, which includes CO 2 capture, CO 2 (and CO) conversion, CO 2 (and CO) recycling, and product separation. Our economic analysis shows that both conversion routes are not profitable under the base case scenario, but the economics can be improved significantly by reducing the cell voltage, the capital cost of the electrolyzers, and the electricity price. For both routes, a cell voltage of 2.5 V, a capital cost of $10,000/m 2 , and an electricity price of <$20/MWh will yield a positive net present value and payback times of less than 15 years. Overall, the high temperature (SOEC-based) two-step conversion process has a greater potential for scale-up than the direct electrochemical conversion route. Strategies for integrating the electrochemical CO 2 /CO conversion process into the existing gas and oil infrastructure are outlined. Current barriers for industrialization of CO 2 electrolyzers and possible solutions are discussed as well.

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“…The feasibility of two-step tandem CO 2 electrolysis has been demonstrated experimentally by Romero Cuellar and coworkers, who reported a total CO 2 reduction current density of 300 mA/ cm 2 with a cumulative Faradaic efficiency of 62% toward C 2+ products. 10 While this is an excellent proof of concept, the system is far from optimized when compared to standalone CO 2 and CO electrolysis technologies. Low CO 2 conversion in the first reactor led to a scrubber being necessary to remove excess CO 2 before the CO electrolyzer, vastly reducing the conversion of fed CO 2 to C 2+ products.…”

Section: Two-step Tandem Co 2 Electrolysis Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tandem and Hybrid Processes for Carbon Dioxide Utilization

Overa

Feric

Park

et al. 2021

Joule

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Two-step electrochemical reduction of CO2 towards multi-carbon products at high current densities

Cited by 59 publications

References 52 publications

A hybrid inorganic–biological artificial photosynthesis system for energy-efficient food production

A hybrid inorganic–biological artificial photosynthesis system for energy-efficient food production

Electroreduction of CO₂/CO to C₂ Products: Process Modeling, Downstream Separation, System Integration, and Economic Analysis

Tandem and Hybrid Processes for Carbon Dioxide Utilization

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Two-step electrochemical reduction of CO2 towards multi-carbon products at high current densities

Cited by 59 publications

References 52 publications

A hybrid inorganic–biological artificial photosynthesis system for energy-efficient food production

A hybrid inorganic–biological artificial photosynthesis system for energy-efficient food production

Electroreduction of CO2/CO to C2 Products: Process Modeling, Downstream Separation, System Integration, and Economic Analysis

Tandem and Hybrid Processes for Carbon Dioxide Utilization

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Product

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Electroreduction of CO₂/CO to C₂ Products: Process Modeling, Downstream Separation, System Integration, and Economic Analysis